Editing Protein sequencing (section)

{{Short description|Sequencing of amino acid arrangement in a protein}}
[[File:Man using a Beckman-Spinco Protein-Peptide Sequencer bg257f292.tiff|thumb|right|Using a Beckman-Spinco Protein-Peptide Sequencer, 1970]]
'''Protein sequencing''' is the practical process of determining the [[amino acid sequence]] of all or part of a [[protein]] or [[peptide]]. This may serve to identify the protein or characterize its [[post-translational modification]]s. Typically, partial sequencing of a protein provides sufficient information (one or more sequence tags) to identify it with reference to databases of protein sequences derived from the conceptual [[Translation (biology)|translation]] of [[gene]]s.
 
The two major direct methods of protein sequencing are [[#Identification by mass spectrometry|mass spectrometry]] and [[#Edman degradation|Edman degradation]] using a [[#Protein sequenator|protein sequenator]] (sequencer). Mass spectrometry methods are now the most widely used for protein sequencing and identification but Edman degradation remains a valuable tool for characterizing a protein's [[N-terminus|''N''-terminus]].