Proteins are the most active molecules in living bodies. They catalyze chemical reactions, provide structural support for cells and allow organisms to move. Their function is intrinsically linked to their folded structure. Resolving the structures of proteins and protein complexes is crucial for our understanding of basic biological processes and diseases. Cross-Linking Mass Spectrometry (XL-MS) is a method to gain structural insights into protein complexes. The field of XL-MS data analysis software is not yet as established as many other methods in proteomics. XL-MS analysis software has significant room for improvement in terms of sensitivity, efficiency and standardization of file formats and workflows to facilitate interoperability and reproducibility. In this thesis we present a new XL-MS search engine, OpenPepXL. We develop an algorithm that scores all candidate cross-linked peptide pairs and is efficient enough to be used on a standard desktop PC for most applications. OpenPepXL supports the standardized XL-MS identification file format defined as a part of the MzIdentML 1.2 specifications that were developed in collaboration with the Proteomics Standards Initiative. We benchmark OpenPepXL against other state-of-the-art XL-MS identification tools on multiple datasets that allow cross-link validation through structures or other means. We show that our exhaustive approach, although not the quickest one, is superior in sensitivity to other tools. We suggest this is due to some tools improving their processing time by discarding too many candidates in early steps of the data analysis. We apply XL-MS analysis with OpenPepXL to multiple protein complexes related to meiosis and the type III secretion system. The first project involved several proteins with unknown structures, some of which are expected to be at least partially intrinsically disordered and therefore difficult to investigate using most traditional structural research methods. Unfortunately, we could not find cross-links between the interaction sites we were interested in the most, but we were able to identify many others in these complexes and gained some structural insights. In the second project we used the photo-cross-linking amino acid pBpa to test very specific hypotheses about interactions within the type III secretion system. We were not able to gain any new structural information yet. However, we could confirm that this is a viable approach. It is possible to identify cross-links between a pBpa residue incorporated into a protein sequence and a residue it cross-links to on a residue level resolution.

Chemical cross-linking mass spectrometry elucidates protein structures and protein-protein interactions by establishing distance constraints between residues pairs. Interpreting the mass spectra of covalently linked peptide pairs is more challenging than identifying peptides in proteomics. This dissertation presents improvements in methodology for identifying cross-linked peptides and their application to probing protein interacting surfaces.

Modern mass spectrometry - the instrumentation and applications in diverse fields Mass spectrometry has played a pivotal role in a variety of scientific disciplines. Today it is an integral part of proteomics and drug discovery process. Fundamentals of Contemporary Mass Spectrometry gives readers a concise and authoritative overview of modern mass spectrometry instrumentation, techniques, and applications, including the latest developments. After an introduction to the history of mass spectrometry and the basic underlying concepts, it covers: Instrumentation, including modes of ionization, condensed phase ionization techniques, mass analysis and ion detection, tandem mass spectrometry, and hyphenated separation techniques Organic and inorganic mass spectrometry Biological mass spectrometry, including the analysis of proteins and peptides, oligosaccharides, lipids, oligonucleotides, and other biological materials Applications to quantitative analysis Based on proven teaching principles, each chapter is complete with a concise overview, highlighted key points, practice exercises, and references to additional resources. Hints and solutions to the exercises are provided in an appendix. To facilitate learning and improve problem-solving skills, several worked-out examples are included. This is a great textbook for graduate students in chemistry, and a robust, practical resource for researchers and scientists, professors, laboratory managers, technicians, and others. It gives scientists in diverse disciplines a practical foundation in modern mass spectrometry.

The authoritative guide to analyzing protein interactions by mass spectrometry Mass spectrometry (MS) is playing an increasingly important role in the study of protein interactions. Mass Spectrometry of Protein Interactionspresents timely and definitive discussions of the diverse range of approaches for studying protein interactions by mass spectrometry with an extensive set of references to the primary literature. Each chapter is written by authors or teams of authors who are international authorities in their fields. This leading reference text: * Discusses the direct detection of protein interactions through electrospray ionization (ESI-MS); ion mobility analysis; and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI-MS) * Covers the indirect analysis of protein interactions through hydrogen-deuterium exchange (HX-MS); limited proteolysis; cross-linking; and radial probe (RP-MS) * Guides researchers in the use of mass spectrometry in structural biology, biochemistry, and protein science to map and define the huge number and diversity of protein interactions * Reviews the latest discoveries and applications and addresses new and ongoing challenges This is a comprehensive reference for researchers in academia and industry engaged in studies of protein interactions and an excellent text for graduate and postgraduate students.

Bottom-up proteomics has emerged as a powerful technology for biological studies. The technique is used for a myriad of purposes, including among others protein identification, post-translational modification identification, protein-protein interaction analysis, protein quantification analysis, and protein structure analysis. The data analysis approaches of bottom-up proteomics have evolved over the past two decades, and many different algorithms and software programs have been developed for these varied purposes. In this thesis, I have focused on improving the database search strategies for the important special applications of bottom-up proteomics, including cross-linking mass spectrometry proteomics and O-glycoproteomics. In cross-linking mass spectrometry proteomics, a sample of proteins is treated with a chemical cross-linking reagent. This causes peptides within the proteins to be cross-linked to one another, forming peptide doublets that are released by treatment of the sample with a protease such as trypsin. The data analysis tools are designed to identify the cross-linked peptides. In O-glycoproteomics, the peptides that are released by protease digestion of the protein sample can be modified with any of or even multiple distinct O-glycans, and the data analysis tools should be able to identify all of the glycans and the modification sites at which they are located. In both cases, traditional database searching strategies which try to match the experimental spectra to all potential theoretical spectra is not practical due to the large increases in search space. Researchers suffered from a lack of efficient data analysis tools for these two applications. Here we successfully devised new search algorithms to address these problems, and impemented them in two new software modules in our laboratories' bottom-up software engine MetaMorpheus (Crosslinking data analysis via MetaMorpheusXL and O-glycoproteomics data analysis via O-Pair Search). The new search strategies used in the software program are both based on ion-indexed open search, which was first developed for large scale proteomic studies in the programs MSFragger and Open-pFind. The ion-indexed open search was optimized for cross-linking mass spectrometry proteomics and O-glycoproteomics in this study, and combined with other algorithms. In O-glycoproteomics, a graph-based algorithm is used to speed up the identification and localization of O-glycans. Other useful features have been added in the software program, such as enabling analysis of both cleavable cross-links and non-cleavable cross-links in the cross-link search module, and calculating localization probabilities in the O-glyco search module. Further optimizations including machine learning methods for false discovery rate (FDR) analysis, retention time prediction and spectral prediction could further improve the current best search approaches for cross-link proteomics and O-glycoproteomics data analysis. Chapter 1 provides an overview of bottom-up proteomics data analysis methods and outlines how ion-indexed open search could be useful for special bottom-up proteomics studies. Chapter 2 describes the development of a cross-linking mass spectrometry proteomics search module, resulting in efficiency improvements for both cleavable and non-cleavable cross-link proteomics data analysis. Chapter 3 describes the development of an O-glycoproteomics search module; by combining the ion-indexed open search algorithm with the graph-based localization algorithm, the O-pair Search is more than 2000 times faster than the currently widely used software program Byonic. In Chapter 4, a novel top-down data acquisition method is described. Chapter 5 provides conclusions and future directions.

Bottom-up proteomics has emerged as a powerful technology for biological studies. The technique is used for a myriad of purposes, including among others protein identification, post-translational modification identification, protein-protein interaction analysis, protein quantification analysis, and protein structure analysis. The data analysis approaches of bottom-up proteomics have evolved over the past two decades, and many different algorithms and software programs have been developed for these varied purposes. In this thesis, I have focused on improving the database search strategies for the important special applications of bottom-up proteomics, including cross-linking mass spectrometry proteomics and O-glycoproteomics. In cross-linking mass spectrometry proteomics, a sample of proteins is treated with a chemical cross-linking reagent. This causes peptides within the proteins to be cross-linked to one another, forming peptide doublets that are released by treatment of the sample with a protease such as trypsin. The data analysis tools are designed to identify the cross-linked peptides. In O-glycoproteomics, the peptides that are released by protease digestion of the protein sample can be modified with any of or even multiple distinct O-glycans, and the data analysis tools should be able to identify all of the glycans and the modification sites at which they are located. In both cases, traditional database searching strategies which try to match the experimental spectra to all potential theoretical spectra is not practical due to the large increases in search space. Researchers suffered from a lack of efficient data analysis tools for these two applications. Here we successfully devised new search algorithms to address these problems, and impemented them in two new software modules in our laboratories' bottom-up software engine MetaMorpheus (Crosslinking data analysis via MetaMorpheusXL and O-glycoproteomics data analysis via O-Pair Search). The new search strategies used in the software program are both based on ion-indexed open search, which was first developed for large scale proteomic studies in the programs MSFragger and Open-pFind. The ion-indexed open search was optimized for cross-linking mass spectrometry proteomics and O-glycoproteomics in this study, and combined with other algorithms. In O-glycoproteomics, a graph-based algorithm is used to speed up the identification and localization of O-glycans. Other useful features have been added in the software program, such as enabling analysis of both cleavable cross-links and non-cleavable cross-links in the cross-link search module, and calculating localization probabilities in the O-glyco search module. Further optimizations including machine learning methods for false discovery rate (FDR) analysis, retention time prediction and spectral prediction could further improve the current best search approaches for cross-link proteomics and O-glycoproteomics data analysis. Chapter 1 provides an overview of bottom-up proteomics data analysis methods and outlines how ion-indexed open search could be useful for special bottom-up proteomics studies. Chapter 2 describes the development of a cross-linking mass spectrometry proteomics search module, resulting in efficiency improvements for both cleavable and non-cleavable cross-link proteomics data analysis. Chapter 3 describes the development of an O-glycoproteomics search module; by combining the ion-indexed open search algorithm with the graph-based localization algorithm, the O-pair Search is more than 2000 times faster than the currently widely used software program Byonic. In Chapter 4, a novel top-down data acquisition method is described. Chapter 5 provides conclusions and future directions.

Molecular Modeling of Proteins, Second Edition provides a theoretical background of various methods available and enables non-specialists to apply methods to their problems by including updated chapters and new material not covered in the first edition. This detailed volume opens by featuring classical and advanced simulation methods as well as methods to set-up complex systems such as lipid membranes and membrane proteins and continues with chapters devoted to the simulation and analysis of conformational changes of proteins, computational methods for protein structure prediction, usage of experimental data in combination with computational techniques, as well as protein-ligand interactions, which are relevant in the drug design process. Written for the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series, chapters include thorough introductions, step-by-step instructions and notes on troubleshooting and avoiding common pitfalls. Update-to-date and authoritative, Molecular Modeling of Proteins, Second Edition aims to aid researchers in the physical, chemical and biosciences interested in utilizing this powerful technology.