Interpreting Electrospray Mass Spectra
"an IonSource.Com tutorial"
page 4

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From Gas Phase Ions to Peaks on a Mass Spectrum
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A population of variably charged ions are generated in the electrospray process. In this example the population will contain peptides that have 1, 2 and 0 sites of protonation.

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The resulting spectrum contains singly and doubly charged species.  The intensity of the peaks is a reflection of the population generated in the electrospray process.  Some researchers have used peak abundance information in protein folding studies.  The principles that they apply are; the more tightly folded a protein the more difficult it will be to protonate and it then follows that as a protein unfolds the peak distribution may change across a spectrum possibly favoring the more highly charged species.

Note: The uncharged peptide is not observed because the mass spectrometer can not influence it and thus it never reaches the detector.

 

 

 

 

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Last updated: Saturday, February 26, 2005 01:43:20 PM