Accurate MALDI-TOF/TOF sequencing of one-bead-one-compound peptide libraries with application to the identification of multiligand protein affinity agents using in situ click chemistry screening.

Combinatorial one-bead-one-compound (OBOC) peptide libraries are widely used for affinity screening, and the sequencing of peptides from hit beads is a key step in the process. For rapid sequencing, CNBr cleavage of the peptides from the beads, followed by de novo sequencing by MALDI-TOF/TOF, is explored. We report on a semiautomated sequencing algorithm and validate it through comparison against Edman degradation sequencing. The initial 44% sequencing success rate of the standard de novo sequencing software was improved to nearly 100%. The sequencing algorithm incorporates existing knowledge of amino acid chemistry and a new strategy for differentiating isobaric amino acids. We tested the algorithm by using MALDI-TOF/TOF to identify a peptide biligand affinity agent against the protein bovine carbonic anhydrase II, starting from comprehensive one-bead-one-compound peptide libraries comprised of non-natural and artificial amino acid components and using the strategy of in situ click/OBOC library screening.