RAPID VALIDATION OF MOLECULAR-STRUCTURES OF BIOLOGICAL SAMPLES BY ELECTROSPRAY MASS-SPECTROMETRY

A short account is presented of the method of measuring molecular mass es (M(r)) of pure biological samples by electrospray ionisation mass s pectrometry. It is demonstrated that the technique yields M(r) values with an effective accuracy equal to or better than 0.008% of the calcu lated M(r), provided that the correct molecular structure is employed in the calculation. It is therefore recommended that this method of me asuring M(r)'s should be considered to form an essential part of all s tudies aimed at elucidating the molecular structure of purified biolog ical macromolecules or for confirming the identity of labelled samples of such molecules.