Investigation of transglutaminase-induced peptide cross-linking by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) was used to demonstrate cross-linking of peptides induced by transglutaminase. The presence of epsilon-(gamma-glutamyl)lysine isopeptide cross-link in the acid hydrolysate of the cross-linking reaction mixture was also demonstrated by MALDI-TOF-MS without prior separation. MALDI-TOF-MS quickly provided peptide mass maps after pronase digestion of the cross-linked peptide adduct, which enabled us to monitor the hydrolytic sequence. Pronase appears to preferentially hydrolyze peptide bonds distant from the cross-link before hydrolyzing peptide bonds around the cross-link. The results suggest that pronase digestion followed by MALDI-TOF-MS could be used for determination of amino acid sequence around a modification site.