Transformation of gas‐phase amino acid clusters to dipeptides: a nice approach to demonstrate the formation of prebiotic peptides. (30th September 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Singh, Amrinder; Kaur, Sukhmeet; Kaur, Jagroop; Singh, Palwinder
• Is Part Of: Rapid communications in mass spectrometry. Volume 28:Number 18(2014)
• Page Start: 2019
• Page End: 2023
• Publication Date: 2014-09-30
• Subjects: Mass spectrometry -- Periodicals; 543.65
• DOI: 10.1002/rcm.6985
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0951-4198

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main"> <title> <x xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <sec id="rcm6985-sec-0001" sec-type="section"> <title>RATIONALE</title> <p>Exploring prebiotic developments is a fascinating area of research which is continually drawing the attention of the scientific community. It is probable that first the biomolecules were formed and then they became aggregated to generate life. Formation of one such biomolecules (peptide ions) is shown in the present experiments.</p> </sec> <sec id="rcm6985-sec-0002" sec-type="section"> <title>METHODS</title> <p>All amino acid solutions for recording mass spectra were prepared in 3:6.9:0.1 (v/v/v) acetonitrile/water/formic acid at a concentration of 50 μM. The studies were performed using a Bruker MicroTOF QII mass spectrometer. Before carrying out experiments in the collision cell, atmospheric pressure in‐source fragmentations were also performed. The formation of different chemical species was detected with high‐resolution mass spectrometry.</p> </sec> <sec id="rcm6985-sec-0003" sec-type="section"> <title>RESULTS</title> <p>Here, we show experimentally the formation of amino acid cluster ions of varied populations, when a solution of an amino acid was injected into an electrospray ionization quadrupole time‐of‐flight (ESI‐QTOF) mass spectrometer. During in‐source fragmentation/collision cell fragmentation, the non‐covalent interaction between two identical amino acids forms either the [M<sub>2</sub>+ H]<sup>+</sup> dimer cluster ion and/or the [M<sub>2</sub> + K]<sup>+</sup> adduct ion which, by elimination of one molecule of water, form the covalent linked dipeptide.</p> </sec> <sec id="rcm6985-sec-0004" sec-type="section"> <title>CONCLUSIONS</title> <p>After the formation of the amino acid cluster, it was established that the creation of the dipeptides, by a covalent bond resulting from the loss of a water molecule, was the initial step towards the formation of the primordial peptides. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.</p> </sec> </abstract>