Gas Phase Fragmentation Behavior of Proline in Macrocyclic Ions.

The fragmentation characteristics of ions produced from proline-containing heptapeptides have been studied in detail. The study has utilized the following C-terminally amidated model peptides: PA, APA, APA, APA, APA, APA, AP, PYAGFLV, PAGFLVY, PGFLVYA, PFLVYAG, PLVYAGF, PVYAGFL, YPAGFLV, YAPGFLV, YAGPFLV, YAGFPLV, YAGFLPV, YAGFLVP, PYAFLVG, PVLFYAG, APXA, and AXPA (where X = C, D, F, G, L, V, and Y, respectively). The results have shown that ions undergo head-to-tail cyclization and form a macrocyclic structure. Under the collision-induced dissociation (CID) condition, it generates nondirect sequence ions regardless of the position of the proline and the neighboring amino acid residues. This study highlights the unusual and unique fragmentation behavior of proline-containing heptapeptides. Following the head-to-tail cyclization, the ring opens up and places the proline residue in the N-terminal position while forming a regular oxazolone form of ions for all peptide series. Then, the fragmentation reaction pathway is followed by the elimination of proline with its C-terminal neighbor residue as an oxazolone (e.g., PX) for all proline-containing peptide series.