An ES-MS assay for screening proteins against carbohydrate libraries

摘要

Our laboratory is developing an electrospray mass spectrometry (ES-MS) approach for screening carbohydrate libraries (of synthetic or natural origin) against target proteins that may be of biological importance or therapeutic interest. Briefly, the experimental procedure involve incubation of a target protein with a carbohydrate library followed by detection using ES-MS. The identity of the ligands can be confirmed by the fragmentation pattern of the released ligand or from the drift time of the released ligand. The direct detection of specific protein-carbohydrate complexes present in carbohydrate mixtures and the possibility of automation of the direct ES-MS binding assay make this approach very attaractive for the discovery of natural receptors and inhibitors.