PROTEOMICS APPLICATIONS
Mass spectrometry plays a crucial role in identifying proteins and investigating their function. In the Russell Research Group, research revolved around proteomics deals heavily on method development to make the task of characterizing the proteome less daunting. While the majority of mass spectrometry-based proteome approaches utilize SDS-PAGE and/or reversed phase LC to separate peptides and proteins, we implement several other techniques. Specifically, research in our group is focused on (i) pre-fractionation using an in-house device termed MSWIFT which provides isoelectric point-based separations, (ii) utilizing capillary electrophoresis to separate peptides and proteins (iii) developing on-target oxidation methods to investigate disulfide bonding patterns in proteins, (iv) investigating protein glycosylation patterns and (v) performing top-down analyses to characterize and identify proteins and their post-translational modifications. We incorporate both MALDI and ESI ionization methods to perform these studies. |