ProMaC, as the "C = calculator" implies, was meant to be a tool to help in the
interpretation of data where user intervention is needed. So the work is done
on screen and there has not been a need for printouts for the past 5+ years
ProMaC exists.
For the CNBr digests Met was left in on purpose. The reason is the "Residue
Editor" and the "AA Configuration", which allows you to freely define any aa
residue. It would have required a large set of rules for the program to figure
out, for example, if the chemical entity you defined for M is in fact to be
cleaved by CNBr. However, you can take advantage of the "AA Configuration" by
assigning M to homoserine (homoserine and homoserine lactone option is alredy
build-in) instead of methionine. The program will then proceed with CNBr
cleavage at "M" but homoserine will be used for the calculations. This change
will be marked in the AA composition (in blue), the peptide digest list and
the printout (M -> Homoserine).
If you could give a detailed description of the system crashes (Mac model,
system, RAM, extensions, control panels, where it crashes) we would look into
it.
One bug we know of is with "MacOS Easy Open" if you select the "Translate TEXT
documents" option.
Hans-Werner Lahm
hans-w.lahm@roche.com
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Concerning ProMaC 1.5.5:
We obtained a copy of ProMaC 1.5.3 from PE-Sciex to run on our PowerMac
after several attempts to get MacBioSpec running on the PowerMac platform
failed (i.e. changing memory allocation and running "Soft FPU" floating
point processor emulation software). I like ProMaC in many respects;
however, there are two areas where the program falls short compared to
MacBioSpec: 1) CNBr digests do not provide the homoserine and homoserine
lactone option for the product peptides and 2) there is no print option
available for several processing results windows (Find AA composition, Find
mass, Calculate series, Calculate residue mass combination, Calculate MW
calculator, Calculate titration curve). These are fairly serious issues.
Does version 1.5.5 fix these problems? Have others out there experienced
the same problems? Also, I have observed several system crashes associated
with ProMaC. Nonetheless, I prefer this software to others I have tried
for ease of use and versatility. Any help to get ProMaC to maximum
capability in my hands would be greatly appreciated.
Mark Bauer
Corporate Research Division
The Procter & Gamble Company