Recent advancements in mass spectrometry (MS) now enable
all levels
of protein structures to be characterized, including primary protein
sequence, post-translational modifications, and three-dimensional
protein conformations. However, protein conformational studies by
MS require the use of many separate techniques that are performed
independently of each other. Herein, we described a contained-electrospray
(ES) experiment that has potential to integrate peptide/protein cross-linking
with the general MS workflow. In our experiment, cross-linking of
protein/peptide occurs simultaneously with ionization after analytes,
and cross-linkers are sprayed from two separate ES emitters. The online
cross-linking process occurring in the charged microdroplet environment
was optimized using trilysine peptide and bis(sulfosuccinimidyl)suberate
cross-linker. We detected the electrostatic complex between analyte
and cross-linker, the mono-linked intermediate, and the fully cross-linked
product, allowing us to correctly predict the sequence of reaction
events in the cross-linking process. Importantly, we observed that
the terminal fully cross-linked product is composed of two distinct
conformations. In one form, the product involved cross-linking between
two ε-NH2 amines in lysine residues, while the other
conformer was formed by a reaction between one ε-NH2 amine and the N-terminus. The experimental conditions for selecting
one cross-linked species over others during the online ES ionization–MS
analysis have been detailed. Appropriate parameters enabled the reaction
between α-lactalbumin proteins and cross-linkers using a non-denaturing
spray condition. These results establish a framework for a future
development in high-throughput structural MS method, where all levels
of protein information can be gathered in a single experiment.