> Kerryn,
> If you use HCl you will end up with a mixture of sugars and amino
> acids, which are likely react with each other to form, depending on
> how much of each is present, brown "gunk"--the "browning" reaction.
> If you are doing amino acid analysis, you will probably get erratic
> results because of this.
> This is why one never wants to hydrolyze proteins in the presence
> of
> carbohydrates. I believe you would get similar results in either
> the gas phase or in solution.
Richard,
Theoretically, you're right, but.... Recently I was given a sample of
HPLC purified glycoprotein and asked to do AAA. I did standard gas
phase hydrolysis with 6N HCL, then PITC, and have obtained very nice
HPLC profile. When I ran the data on Internet search, I was able to
identify this protein correctly, and the distance value was pretty
decent - 1.5 (>82% reliability).
Well, that's my experience.
Regards,
ma
M. Alterman, Ph.D.
Director,
Biochemical Research Service Laboratory
University of Kansas
Lawrence, KS 66045
Phone: (913)-864-4166
(913)-864-4247 lab
FAX: (913)-864-5396
http://www.idl.ukans.edu/anylresc/brsl/brsl.html