Posttranslational modifications of
proteins play fundamental roles in protein function in health and
disease. More than 600 different types of posttranslational modifications
are known, many of them being of extremely low abundance, causing
subtle changes in physicochemical properties and posing an extreme
challenge to analytical methods required for their characterization.
Here, we report the development of a novel pH gradient-based anion-exchange
chromatography method, which can be directly interfaced to Orbitrap-based
mass spectrometry for the comprehensive characterization of proteoforms
at the intact protein level under native conditions. The analysis
of four different proteins demonstrates outstanding chromatographic
selectivity, while the mass spectra obtained are of excellent quality
enabling the identification of proteoforms, including near isobaric
variants, spanning 4 orders of magnitude in abundance. An in-depth
analysis of ovalbumin from chicken egg white yields the identification
and relative quantification of more than 150 different proteoforms,
including fragmented and dimeric forms. More than 20 different ovalbumin
charge variants together with their glycoform distributions are identified
and quantified, many of which have not been reported previously.