AMINO-ACID-ANALYSIS AND PROTEIN DATABASE COMPOSITIONAL SEARCH AS A RAPID AND INEXPENSIVE METHOD TO IDENTIFY PROTEINS

The identification of protein samples in minute quantities of protein samples, e.g., from two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis, is an everyday problem in biology laboratories. Here we sho w that computer-assisted amino acid analysis can fulfill this task. Am ino acid analysis data can be used to compare the amino acid compositi on of an unknown protein with protein compositions in a database (comp ositional search). Routine amino acid analysis data can, despite a cer tain margin of error, be used to identify a protein. Compared to prote in sequencing, amino analysis is much cheaper, faster, and allows high er sample throughput. Thus, the method may replace protein sequencing as a first attempt in identification, provided a homolog can be found in the database. (C) 1994 Academic Press, Inc.