Protein Amino acid fragmentation pattern

Metabolism Study The degradation of a protein to peptides and an amino acid moiety is commonly expected as a representative metabolic pattern. Therefore conventional biotransformation studies are not needed for biopharmaceuticals consisting of natural amino acids. However, metabolism studies of biopharmaceuticals containing nonnatural amino acid may provide useful information. In such cases radiolabeled proteins should be prepared to trace the pharmacokinetic behavior of the nonnatural amino acid fragments. 

Protein molecules can be hydrolysed into amino acid fragments and those fragments ionized by using buffer solutions of a suitable pH. Using electrophoresis on fragments of DNA from body fluids produces a pattern that is unique to an individual, but certain bands are common in families. DNA fingerprinting is therefore a valuable tool, both for the forensic scientist and for establishing paternity cases. 

Fig. 7. The mechanism for formation of b andy ions during fragmentation of protonated peptides and protein. The mass spectral pattern of b and y ions are used to determine the amino acid sequence...

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