Post Translational Modifications (PTM)

Post translational modifications are important in biological processes and mass spectrometers are becoming the instruments of choice for the detection and characterization of PTMs. Essentially mass spectrometers have the capability to characterize most fixed mass modification that are stable in proteins. These include protein acetylation, ubiquitination, methylation and phosphorylation. The most important consideration in characterizing PTMs is their frequency of occurrence. Since most PTMs are rare events specific biochemical enrichment strategies need to be used to facilitate their identification and characterization. For example TiO2 and metal based resins (IMAC) are commonly used for the enrichment of phospho peptides before mass spectrometry analysis. PTM based project should be well researched and discussed to achieve the best outcome.