Seminal
plasma is a critical and complex fluid that carries sperm
to eggs to initiate the fertilization process. Here, we present a
top-down mass spectrometry (TDMS) strategy for identifying proteins
and posttranslational modifications (PTMs) in bovine seminal plasma.
In this study, proteins were separated using sheathless capillary
zone electrophoresis (CZE)-MS and reversed-phase liquid chromatography
(LC)-MS, and then fragmented using electron-transfer/higher-energy
collisional dissociation (EThcD) and 213 nm ultraviolet photodissociation
(213 nm UVPD) to provide more comprehensive information about the
proteomic landscape of this biological fluid. Four hundred and seventeen
proteoforms were identified by sheathless CZE-MS, and one hundred
and seventy-two species were unique to this method. LC-MS identified
3090 proteoforms, including 1707 unique species. All identifications
were within ±10 ppm (mass error) and with a P-Score ≤1
× 10–04. Pooling results (triplicate measurements)
from sheathless CZE-MS and LC-MS resulted in the identification of
1433 proteoforms (EThcD) and 2151 proteoforms (213 nm UVPD) with 612
species unique for EThcD and 1021 for 213 nm UVPD. The average sequence
coverage was found to be higher for EThcD (28%) than for 213 nm UVPD
(23%). The use of sheathless CZE-MS and LC-MS with EThcD and 213 nm
UVPD provided complementary protein profiling and proteoform data
that were more comprehensive than those of either method alone.