Direct peptide mapping of sickle-cell hemoglobin using electrospray mass spectrometry.

Direct peptide mapping of sickle-cell hemoglobin (Hb S) using electrospray mass spectrometry is demonstrated to be a rapid, sensitive and useful technique for providing information concerning the location of variation. By fully comparing electrospray mass spectra of digests of sickle-cell and normal hemoglobins, using L-1-tosylamide-2-phenylethyl chloromethyl ketone (TPCK)-treated trypsin, the point mutation of B1 fragment of beta-chain in Hb S can be confirmed, taking into consideration that all the other fragments are completely identical in the two proteins.