Peaks GlycanFinder 3.0: Advanced Software for Glycoproteomics Discovery
Peaks GlycanFinder 3.0 is a specialized bioinformatics module within the renowned PEAKS Studio software suite, designed specifically for the challenging analysis of protein glycosylation. It automates the identification of glycans (sugar molecules) attached to proteins and characterizes the exact site of attachment (glycosylation site) from mass spectrometry (MS) data, empowering researchers in biopharmaceutical development, biomarker discovery, and fundamental glycobiology.
Core Function: Decoding Protein Glycosylation from MS Data
Its primary function is to process complex LC-MS/MS data to identify both the glycan structure and its specific location on a peptide backbone. This is critical because glycosylation dramatically affects a protein’s function, stability, and immunogenicity, especially for therapeutic antibodies and other biologics.
Key Functions:
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Automated Glycopeptide Identification: Combines de novo sequencing with comprehensive database searching to identify glycopeptides without solely relying on spectral libraries, enabling the discovery of novel or unexpected glycoforms.
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Comprehensive Glycan Database Search: Searches against extensive built-in and user-defined glycan structure databases (covering N-linked, O-linked, and other glycosylation types) to assign the most likely glycan composition.
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Site-Specific Characterization: Precisely localizes the glycosylation site to a specific amino acid (e.g., Asn for N-glycosylation, Ser/Thr for O-glycosylation), providing complete structural information.
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Integrated Quantitation & Visualization: (When combined with other PEAKS modules) supports relative quantitation of different glycoforms and provides clear visualizations of identified glycopeptides and their fragmentation spectra.
