Using electrospray ionization with a Fourier-transform mass spectromet
er, MS/MS of molecular ions and seven fragment ions of carbonic anhydr
ase (259 amino acids) yields 74 identifiable fragment ions, including
23 amino acid spacings, Such sensitive and specific direct characteriz
ation of proteins appears to be complementary to conventional techniqu
es including LC/MS/MS sequencing of oligopeptides from protein degrada
tion.