Hydrogen–deuterium exchange mass
spectrometry
(HDX/MS) is
increasingly used to study the dynamics of protein conformation. Coupled
to native MS, HDX can also characterize the conformations of oligonucleotides
and their binding to cations, small molecules, and proteins. Data
processing and visualization of native HDX/MS of oligonucleotides
requires dedicated software solutions. OligoR is a web-browser-based
application that addresses the specific needs of DNA HDX/MS and native
MS experiments from raw data in an open format to visualization and
export of results. Whole experiments spanning many time points can
be processed in minutes for several mass-separated species. To access
valuable folding dynamics information, we have developed a simple
and robust approach to deconvolute bimodal isotope distributions,
even when they are highly overlapping. This approach is based on modeling
physically possible isotope distributions determined from chemical
formulae and could be extended to any type of analyte (proteins, peptides,
sugars, and small molecules). All results are presented in interactive
data tables, and publication-quality figures can be generated, customized,
and exported.