Collision-induced dissociation of intact duplex and single-stranded siRNA anions

A tandem mass spectrometry approach is demonstrated for complete sequencing of a model small interfering RNA (siRNA) based on ion trap collisional activation of intact single-stranded anions. Various charge states of the siRNA duplex and the individual strands were generated by nanoelectrospray (nano-ESI). The siRNA duplex anions were predominantly dissociated into the sense and antisense strands by collisional activation. The characteristic fragment ions (c/y- and a-B/w-ion series) from both strands were observed when higher activation amplitude was applied and when beam-type collisional activation was examined; however, the coexistence of fragment ions from both strands complicated spectral interpretation. The effect of precursor ion charge state on the dissociation of the individual sense and antisense strand siRNA anions was studied using ion trap collision-induced dissociation under various activation amplitudes. Through the activation of relatively low charge state precursor ions at relatively low excitation energy, selective backbone dissociation predominantly via the c/y channels was achieved. By applying relatively high excitation energy, the a-B/w channels also became prominent; however, the increase in spectral complexity made complete peak assignment difficult. In order to simplify the product ion spectra, proton-transfer reactions were applied, and complete sequencing of each strand was achieved. The application of tandem mass spectrometry to intact single-stranded anions demonstrated in this study can be adapted for the rapid identification of other noncoding RNAs in RNomics studies.