Updated project metadata.
The identification of protein C-termini in complex proteomes is challenging due to the poor ionization efficiency of the carboxyl group. Amidating the negatively charged C-termini with ethanolamine (EA) has been suggested to improve detection of C-terminal peptides and allows for a directed depletion of internal peptides after proteolysis using carboxyl reactive polymers. In the present study the derivatization with N,N-dimethylethylenediamine (DMEDA) and (4-aminobutyl)guanidine (AG) leading to a positively charged C-terminus was investigated. C-terminal charge-reversed peptides showed improved coverage of b- and y-ion series in the MS/MS spectra compared to their non-charged counterparts. DMEDA-derivatized peptides resulted in many peptides with charge states of 3+ which benefited from ETD-fragmentation. This makes the charge reversal strategy particularly useful for the analysis of protein C-termini which may also be posttranslationally modified. The labeling strategy and the indirect enrichment of C-termini worked with similar efficiency for both DMEDA and EA and their applicability was demonstrated on an E. coli proteome. Utilizing two proteases and different MS/MS activation mechanisms allowed for the identification of >400 C-termini, encompassing both canonical and truncated C-termini.