Global Post-Translational Modification Discovery.

A new global post-translational modification (PTM) discovery strategy, G-PTM-D, is described. A proteomics database containing UniProt-curated PTM information is supplemented with potential new modification types and sites discovered from a first-round search of mass spectrometry data with ultrawide precursor mass tolerance. A second-round search employing the supplemented database conducted with standard narrow mass tolerances yields deep coverage and a rich variety of peptide modifications with high confidence in complex unenriched samples. The G-PTM-D strategy represents a major advance to the previously reported G-PTM strategy and provides a powerful new capability to the proteomics research community.