Jack Throck Watson Research Interests

The major research theme in this laboratory involves the characterization of peptides and proteins by mass spectrometry with fast atom bombardment (FAB), electrospray ionization (ESI), and matrix assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI). Unlike classical mass spectrometry involving electron ionization (EI), the desorption/ionization (D/I) techniques (FAB, ESI, and MALDI) provide little or no fragmentation, and thus no basis for deducing structural features in the molecule of interest. On the other hand, peptides and proteins are not amenable to analysis by EI because they have no significant vapor pressure, and thus must be analyzed by the DI techniques which yield only an indication of the molecular weight.

We develop and apply microchemical modifications of the analyte that can be interweaved with molecular weight determinations by D/I at various stages of controlled degradation of the analyte in an effort to obtain structural information.