Removal of N-terminal formyl groups and deblocking of pyrrolidone carboxylic acid of proteins with anhydrous hydrazine vapor.

Many proteins have a blocked alpha-amino group which renders them inaccessible to sequence analysis by the classical Edman degradation procedure. Blockage typically occurs when the alpha-amino groups are acylated with acetyl or formyl groups or when the N-terminal residue is pyrrolidone carboxylic acid formed by cyclization of glutamine. We have found that N-formyl groups of proteins and peptides can be removed by exposure to hydrazine vapor at -5 degrees C for 8 h. Under these conditions, peptide-bond cleavage or modification of the constituent amino-acid residues does not occur. Deblocking of N-terminal pyrrolidone carboxylate residues by conversion to gamma-hydrazidyl glutamic acid can be achieved by exposure to hydrazine vapor at 20 degrees C for 4 h. These conditions cause partial modification of asparagine and glutamine residues to their corresponding hydrazides, and conversion of arginine residues to ornithine.