A photocleavable surfactant for top-down proteomics

• Published in: Nature methods Vol. 16; no. 5; pp. 417 - 420
• Main Authors: Brown, Kyle A., Chen, Bifan, Guardado-Alvarez, Tania M., Lin, Ziqing, Hwang, Leekyoung, Ayaz-Guner, Serife, Jin, Song, Ge, Ying
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Nature Publishing Group US 01-05-2019; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 631/1647/2067; 631/1647/296; 631/45/475; 631/45/612/1237; Azo Compounds - chemistry; Azo Compounds - radiation effects; Bioinformatics; Biological Microscopy; Biological Techniques; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedical Engineering/Biotechnology; Brief Communication; Dosage and administration; Electrophoresis; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel - methods; Gel electrophoresis; Gene expression; Genetic research; Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; Irradiation; Life Sciences; Mass Spectrometry; Mass spectroscopy; Medical schools; Membrane proteins; Membrane Proteins - analysis; Photolysis; Post-translation; Proteins; Proteomics; Proteomics - methods; Public health; Sodium dodecyl sulfate; Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate - chemistry; Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate - radiation effects; Sodium lauryl sulfate; Solubility; Solubilization; Spectroscopy; Sulfates; Surface active agents; Surface-Active Agents - chemistry; Surface-Active Agents - radiation effects; Surfactants; Ultraviolet radiation; Ultraviolet Rays
• ISSN: 1548-7091; 1548-7105
• DOI: 10.1038/s41592-019-0391-1

We report the identification of a photocleavable anionic surfactant, 4-hexylphenylazosulfonate (Azo), which can be rapidly degraded by ultraviolet irradiation, for top-down proteomics. Azo can effectively solubilize proteins with performance comparable to that of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and is compatible with mass spectrometry. Azo-aided top-down proteomics enables the solubilization of membrane proteins for comprehensive characterization of post-translational modifications. Moreover, Azo is simple to synthesize and can be used as a general SDS replacement in SDS–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis.
A mass-spectrometry-compatible surfactant called Azo effectively solubilizes proteins, is rapidly degraded by ultraviolet irradiation and enables top-down proteomic analysis of membrane proteins.