Toward full peptide sequence coverage by dual fragmentation combining electron-transfer and higher-energy collision dissociation tandem mass spectrometry.

Increasing peptide sequence coverage by tandem mass spectrometry improves confidence in database search-based peptide identification and facilitates mapping of post-translational modifications and de novo sequencing. Inducing 2-fold fragmentation by combining electron-transfer and higher-energy collision dissociation (EThcD) generates dual fragment ion series and facilitates extensive peptide backbone fragmentation. After an initial electron-transfer dissociation step, all ions including the unreacted precursor ions are subjected to collision induced dissociation which yields b/y- and c/z-type fragment ions in a single spectrum. This new fragmentation scheme provides richer spectra and substantially increases the peptide sequence coverage and confidence in peptide identification.