Macromolecules Biomolecules and Biopolymers

These studies involved mainly the estimation of the conformation of the gas phase ions formed by these macromolecules and were derived from molecular models and the collision cross sections obtained from K values. One facet of forming gas phase ions from large molecules with several functional groups is that multiply charged ions are conunonly observed at ambient pressure with ESI. Thus, mobility spectra for a single compound from substances such as proteins and oligonucleotides (and synthetic polymers) will exhibit peaks for these various charge states. Even a 

FIGURE 18.5 The number of publications involving proteins and ion mobility spectrometry in the years 2001-2010 (based on SciFinder search). 

A few review papers discussing the use of ion mobility and IM-MS measurements for studying macromolecules have been recently published. Combining MALDI with IM-MS was discussed in view of its applications in solvent-free structural studies, sequencing, and protein identification. The mobility measurements provided a new dimension in the analysis of biomolecules due to the fact that separation is based on the size and shape of the ion and not only on its mass. The role of multidimensional assemblies and aggregations in normal cellular processes and diseases, based on ESI-IM-MS experiments, was analyzed.  

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