An Innovative Approach to Peptide De Novo Sequencing*

The analysis of the amminoacidic sequence of a peptide is a basic and fundamental issue in Proteomics. Such analysis is generally performed by using Mass Spectrometry equipment. This procedure exhibits several advantages on other methods. In particular, a mass/mass (or tandem mass) analysis is very often used. This latter technique produces a spectrum displaying the molecular weight of the full molecule and those of its fragments produced during the analysis itself. A typical mass/mass spectrum, however, does not contain any direct reference to amminoacids, being a mere succession of molecular weight peaks. Further analysis of such spectral data is then requested.