Electron capture versus energetic dissociation of protein ions

The identity of neighboring amino acids has little influence on the dissoci ation of multiply protonated proteins by electron capture dissociation. As exceptions, no cleavage occurs on the N-terminal side of Pro, and little on either side of Cys, whereas the C-terminal side of Trp is heavily favored. The neighboring amino acids have a far greater effect on energetic dissoci ation, making the combined methods promising for the de novo sequencing of proteins. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V.