Low mass MS/MS fragments of protonated amino acids used for distinction of their 13C-isotopomers in metabolic studies.

Glu, Gln, Pro, and Ala are the main amino acids involved in ammonia detoxification in mosquitoes. In order to develop a tandem mass spectrometry method (MS(2)) to monitor each carbon of the above isotopically-labeled (13)C-amino acids for metabolic studies, the compositions and origins of atoms in fragments of the protonated amino acid should be first elucidated. Thus, various electrospray (ESI)-based MS(2) tools were employed to study the fragmentation of these unlabeled and isotopically-labeled amino acids and better understand their dissociation pathways. A broad range of fragments, including previously-undescribed low m/z fragments was revealed. The formulae of the fragments (from m/z 130 down to m/z 27) were confirmed by their accurate masses. The structures and conformations of the larger fragments of Glu were also explored by ion mobility mass spectrometry (IM-MS) and gas-phase hydrogen/deuterium exchange (HDX) experiments. It was found that some low m/z fragments (m/z 27-30) are common to Glu, Gln, Pro, and Ala. The origins of carbons in these small fragments are discussed and additional collision induced dissociation (CID) MS(2) fragmentation pathways are proposed for them. It was also found that small fragments (≤m/z 84) of protonated, methylated Glu, and methylated Gln are the same as those of the underivatized Glu and Gln. Taken together, the new approach of utilizing low m/z fragments can be applied to distinguish, identify, and quantify (13)C-amino acids labeled at various positions, either in the backbone or side chain.