Native mass spectrometry (MS) and surface induced dissociation (SID) have been applied to study the stoichiometry and quaternary structure of non-covalent protein complexes. In this study, Methanosarcina thermophila 20S proteasome, which consists of four stacked heptameric rings (α7β7β7α7 symmetry), has been selected to explore the SID dissociation pattern of a complicated stacked ring protein complex. SID produces both α and β subunits while collision induced dissociation (CID) produces only highly charged α subunit. In addition, the charge reduced 20S proteasome produces the α7β7 fragment, reflecting the stacked ring topology of the complex. The combination of SID and charge reduction is shown to be a powerful tool for the study of protein complex structure.
Keywords: 20S proteasome; charge reduction; native mass spectrometry; stacked ring; surface induced dissociation; triethylammonium acetate.