Studies of Protein Function by Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry

dc.contributor.advisorSiu, K. W. Michael
dc.creatorDeclan Williams, Gwillym
dc.date.accessioned2015-01-26T14:39:26Z
dc.date.available2015-01-26T14:39:26Z
dc.date.copyright2014-06-12
dc.date.issued2015-01-26
dc.date.updated2015-01-26T14:39:26Z
dc.degree.disciplineChemistry
dc.degree.levelDoctoral
dc.degree.namePhD - Doctor of Philosophy
dc.description.abstractComplete genomes of many organisms have been recorded using high throughput nucleic acid sequencing; however the intricate functions of the gene products remain largely undiscovered. As the most prominent technology for polypeptide sequence determination and quantification, mass spectrometry is used extensively to address questions regarding the behaviours of proteins in the biological context. The capacity of mass spectrometers to measure covalent modifications of amino acids is also of great value in the investigation of biological processes since specific reactive sites within proteins modulate their activity. Integration of liquid chromatography into mass spectrometry platforms has greatly improved sensitivity and throughput and is of particular benefit in the analysis of highly complex polypeptide mixtures. Studies of the behaviours of individual intracellular proteins in bacterial, plant and metazoan systems employing liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry are described herein. The phosphorylation of individual residues and resulting alterations in function were determined in GraR and VraR, two antibiotic resistance factors in Staphylococcus aureus. Three phosphosites of starch branching enzyme IIb which appear to regulate starch biosynthesis in Zea mays as well as kinases for which these sites are putative substrates were identified. Regulation of the multifunctional protein beta-catenin by p38 mitogen activated protein kinase was explored. Gene products with affinity for the highly conserved multifunctional protein beta-catenin, including several not previously known to interact, were identified from Rattus norvegicus smooth muscle cells. The specificity of peptide ion mass and peptide fragment ion mass relative to instrumental mass accuracy and the consequence for tandem-mass spectrometry-based quantification are explored in a separate chapter. In silico comparison of peptide ion/product ion mass pairs calculated from the human proteome revealed a range of mass redundancy from high to low simulated mass accuracy. Product ions from a single peptide sequence differ in their tendencies toward mass redundancy however no correlation between size and sequence specificity was apparent. This dissertation illustrates research into protein function conducted on three types of mass spectrometers and demonstrates some effects of liquid chromatographic and mass spectrometric performance on proteomic studies.
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10315/28218
dc.language.isoen
dc.rightsAuthor owns copyright, except where explicitly noted. Please contact the author directly with licensing requests.
dc.subjectAnalytical chemistry
dc.subjectBiochemistry
dc.subjectMolecular biology
dc.subject.keywordsProtein phosphorylationen_US
dc.subject.keywordsMass spectrometryen_US
dc.subject.keywordsTandem mass spectrometryen_US
dc.subject.keywordsLiquid chromatography-mass spectrometryen_US
dc.subject.keywordsProteomicsen_US
dc.subject.keywordsAnalytical biochemistryen_US
dc.subject.keywordsPost-translational modificationen_US
dc.titleStudies of Protein Function by Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry
dc.typeElectronic Thesis or Dissertation

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