The effect of protonation site and conformation on surface-induced dissociation in a small, lysine containing peptide

Abstract

Simulations of surface induced dissociation (SID) of protonated peptides have provided significant insight into the energy transfer and mechanism of SID; however, they have been limited to glycine and alanine containing peptides. The chemical simplicity of these systems forces N-terminus protonation. Here we present results from simulations involving a lysine containing peptide that allowed for multiple protonation sites and conformations. We found that when the excess proton is located on the basic lysine side chain, fragmentation dynamics are typically slower and occur through a ‘charge-remote’ pathway. Additionally, conformation alone has a significant effect on the observed proton transfer pathways.