Coupling 2D SDS-PAGE with CNBr cleavage and MALDI-TOFMS: a strategy applied to the identification of proteins induced by a hypochlorous acid stress in Escherichia coli.

A protocol including 2D SDS-PAGE, electroblotting proteins onto nitrocellulose membranes, and CNBr cleavage, followed by MALDI-MS analysis of intact proteins and peptide fragments and a database search, has been optimized and applied to the rapid identification of the Escherichia coli response to hypochlorous acid. The methodology has proved to be efficient from the point of view of sensitivity (picomole range) and selectivity. In particular, MALDI analysis of proteins and CNBr fragments by directly dissolving the membrane in an acetone solution of matrix, without previous elution, is reliable and reproducible. The accuracy of the MW determination is somewhat reduced compared to that of methods involving elution and purification of proteins and digests; nevertheless, the utilization of large MW windows combined with the pI entry in database searches had allowed, for most of the spots, the selection of only one protein candidate. Finally, 19 proteins exhibiting a response to hypochlorous acid stress have been confirmed or identified on the basis of this protocol.