Question

Edman degradation can be used to A) identify the N-terminal amino acid of a polypeptide. B) identify the C-terminal amino acid of a polypeptide. C) separate the subunits of a multi-subunit protein. D) cleave a protein at specific sites. E) cleave disulfide bonds within a protein so that the individual polypeptides can be separated.

Answer 1

A) identify the N-terminal amino acid of a polypeptide

Step-by-step explanation:

Edman degradation is a series of chemical reactions that enables the stepwise cleavage of the amino-terminal residue from a peptide/protein. This method sequentially removes N-terminal residues without disrupting peptide bonds between other amino acid residues, thereby obtaining the amino acid sequences from the target peptide/protein. Edman degradation can be defined as a cyclic method in which each residue is cleaved off from the amino-terminal end of the peptide/protein and then identified by reverse-phase chromatography, which is a technique used to separate peptides/proteins on the basis of their hydrophobicity.