Multiheme c-type cytochromes (proteins with covalently attached heme
c moieties) play important roles in extracellular metal respiration in dissimilatory metal-reducing bacteria. Liquid chromatography鈥搕andem mass spectrometry (LC鈥揗S/MS) characterization of c-type cytochromes is hindered by the presence of multiple heme groups, since the heme
c modified peptides are typically not observed or, if observed, not identified. Using a recently reported histidine affinity chromatography (HAC) procedure, we enriched heme
c tryptic peptides from purified bovine heart cytochrome
c, two bacterial decaheme cytochromes, and subjected these samples to LC鈥揗S/MS analysis. Enriched bovine cytochrome
c samples yielded 3- to 6-fold more confident peptide鈥搒pectrum matches to heme
c containing peptides than unenriched digests. In unenriched digests of the decaheme cytochrome MtoA from
Sideroxydans lithotrophicus ES-1, heme
c peptides for 4 of the 10 expected sites were observed by LC鈥揗S/MS; following HAC fractionation, peptides covering 9 out of 10 sites were obtained. Heme
c peptide spiked into
E. coli lysates at mass ratios as low as 1 脳 10
鈥? was detected with good signal-to-noise after HAC and LC鈥揗S/MS analysis. In addition to HAC, we have developed a proteomics database search strategy that takes into account the unique physicochemical properties of heme
c peptides. The results suggest that accounting for the double thioether link between heme
c and peptide, and the use of the labile heme fragment as a reporter ion, can improve database searching results. The combination of affinity chromatography and heme-specific informatics yielded increases in the number of peptide鈥搒pectrum matches of 20鈥?00-fold for bovine cytochrome
c.
Keywords:
C-type cytochromes; heme c; peptides; mass spectrometry; histidine affinity chromatography; enrichment; database searching; reporter ion; isotopic envelope