New results of hemoglobin variant structure determinations by fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry.

Fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry has already been used for the identification of mutations in abnormal human hemoglobin chains. This paper presents new results obtained with this technique. The methodology used here is compared with more conventional biochemical techniques and automated microsequencing. In every case, a well-chosen combination of peptide-high performance liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry, amino acid analysis, and sequence analysis led rapidly to the identification of the mutant. The high sensitivity of these techniques holds great promise for the analysis of molecular abnormalities in various genetic disorders presently detectable only by the application of a molecular biological approach.