Acid effects on protein molecular weight determination

The acid effects of some proteins on measuring their molecular weights were studied using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry ( MALDI-TOF-MS) and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). It was found that the signal intensity was enhanced through adjusting the acid concentration in some protein samples. In this paper, both MALDI-MS and ESI-MS was applied to examine the molecular weights of several standard proteins. And the proper acid concentration was detected in these spectra. In the meanwhile, it demonstrates that some associations of proteins in solution can be preserved into the gas phase and observed by the "soft ionization" mass spectrometry.