Peptide Mapping

Peptide mapping is an invaluable tool for biotherapeutic protein characterization and is the most widely used method for elucidating the primary amino acid structure of proteins, particularly those produced by recombinant means. It most commonly involves enzymatic digestion (usually using trypsin) of a protein to produce peptide fragments, followed by separation and identification of the fragments in a reproducible manner, allowing the detection and monitoring of single amino acid changes, oxidation, deamidation, and other degradation products. It also enables the direct detection of common monoclonal antibody variants such as N-terminal cyclization, C-terminal lysine processing, and N-glycosylation, as well as other post-translational modifications.