Identifying sites of post-translational modifications on proteins is a major challenge in proteomics. O-Linked -N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) is a dynamic nucleocytoplasmic modification more analogous to phosphorylation than to classical complex O-glycosylation. We describe a mass spectrometry-based method for the identification of sites modified by O-GlcNAc that relies on mild -elimination followed by Michael addition with dithiothreitol (BEMAD). Using synthetic peptides, we also show that biotin pentylamine can replace dithiothreitol as the nucleophile. The modified peptides can be efficiently enriched by affinity chromatography, and the sites can be mapped using tandem mass spectrometry. This same methodology can be applied to mapping sites of serine and threonine phosphorylation, and we provide a strategy that uses modification-specific antibodies and enzymes to discriminate between the two post-translational modifications. The BEMAD methodology was validated by mapping three previously identified O-GlcNAc sites, as well as three novel sites, on Synapsin I purified from rat brain. BEMAD was then used on a purified nuclear pore complex preparation to map novel sites of O-GlcNAc modification on the Lamin B receptor and the nucleoporin Nup155. This method is amenable for performing quantitative mass spectrometry and can also be adapted to quantify cysteine residues. In addition, our studies emphasize the importance of distinguishing between O-phosphate versus O-GlcNAc when mapping sites of serine and threonine post-translational modification using -elimination/Michael addition methods. The rapid identification of proteins by mass spectrometry has become commonplace in the postgenomic era (1). However, one major challenge that remains is the identification of post-translational modifications on these proteins. More than 25 years ago, Finn Wold and colleagues (2) recognized the abundance of naturally occurring modified forms of the genetically encoded 21 amino acids. In addition to phosphorylation, a variety of post-translational modifications, including acetylation (3), methylation (4), and O-linked -N-acetylglucosamine (OGlcNAc) 1 (5-7), are now recognized to regulate protein functions in cellular processes. Therefore, identification of proteins along with their post-translational modifications, which has been referred to as "functional proteomics," is an important step in the characterization of proteomes. O-GlcNAc is a dynamic post-translational modification occurring on a variety of nucleocytoplasmic proteins and, in several instances, O-GlcNAc maps to the same or adjacent sites as phosphorylation (8, 9). Diverse classes of proteins are modified including cytoskeletal proteins, transcription factors, signaling adapter molecules, hormone receptors, nuclear pore complex (NPC) proteins, and kinases (10). The nucleocytoplasmic enzymes for the addition (O-GlcNAc transferase) and removal (neutral -N-acetylglucosaminidase, O-GlcNAcase) of this modification have been cloned and characterized (11-16) and may ac...