Mass extinctions

Factors influencing the evolution of complex traits such as body size are notoriously difficult to study but a new review of work on marine iguanas in the Galapagos islands suggests an answer may lie in the interplay of natural and sexual selection.     

质谱显微镜

荣获诺贝尔奖的生物体高分子质谱分析技术迎来了新的发展。从以往的分子混合物分析,到依据二维坐标信息的分析,接着超维而诞生的就是可以描绘分子分布的质谱显微镜。它不仅加速了系统生物学的发展,而且也将在疾病的诊断以及新药筛选靶点的探索方面做出贡献。[编者按]     

Distinguishing Small Molecular Mass Differences of Proteins by Mass Spectrometry

Electrospray ionization–Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (ESI–FTICR) mass spectrometryallows for high-resolution, accurate mass analysisof multiply charged ions of proteins. In the workdescribed here, the ability of ESI–FTICR to distinguish small differences in molecular mass is evaluated. Ubiquitin was used as an internal mass calibration standard to measure the molecular mass of cytochromec, myoglobin, and several carbonic anhydrase isoforms. Mass calibration was based onthe tallest isotopic peak of each ubiquitin chargestate. Ubiquitin performed well as an internal standard because its charge states covered the appropriate mass range, interference was minimal, and thetallest peak was easily identified. The peak massesof cytochrome c (12.5 kDa) and myoglobin (17 kDa) were measured to an accuracy of about 0.02 Da (<2ppm). However, errors of 1.0 Da were observedfor some individual determinations because of the difficulty in identifying the tallest peak. When the technique was applied to bovine carbonic anhydrase II, even combining data from several charge statesdid not yield an unequivocal assignment of thetallest peak, resulting in a mass assignment of 29,023.7 or 29,024.7. Similarly, measurements of two isoforms with a mass difference of 1 Da, human carbonic anhydrase I, pI6.0 and 6.6, yielded overlapping values for the mass of the tallest peak. However, these two isoforms were clearly distinguished by (a) identification of the tallest peak using a measurement of average mass as a guide and (b) comparison of the isotopic peak intensity patterns.