Liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry of synthesis products associated with the viral protein US11.

US11 is a small basic protein composed of 161 amino acid residues, and is among the most abundant viral proteins in cells infected with herpes simplex viruses HSV1 and HSV2. The amino acid sequence [91-121] is considered essential for the binding of this protein with RNA. Automated solid phase synthesis of this fragment resulted in a crude reaction mixture containing the desired sequence as well as a number of unknown side products. On-line liquid chromatography/electrospray mass spectrometry (LC/ES-MS) and LC/ES tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) allowed the identification of the separated components and furnished relevant sequencing information. The unusual sequences of the monitored components, which consist of a tandemly repeated three-amino-acid motif with the sequence Arg-X-Pro, where X is an acidic or uncharged polar amino acid residue, yielded product ion spectra lacking substantial sequence information and rich in fragment ions manifesting the neutral losses 17, 42 and 60 u.