HiLight-PTM: an online application to aid matching peptide pairs with isotopically labelled PTMs

MOTIVATION: Database searching of isotopically labelled PTMs can be problematic and we frequently find that only one, or neither in a heavy/light pair are assigned. In such cases, having a pair of MS/MS spectra that differ due to an isotopic label can assist in identifying the relevant m/z values that support the correct peptide annotation or can be used for de novo sequencing. RESULTS: We have developed an online application that identifies matching peaks and peaks differing by the appropriate mass shift (difference between heavy and light PTM) between two MS/MS spectra. Furthermore, the application predicts, from the exact-match peaks, the mass of their complementary ions and highlights these as high confidence matches between the two spectra. The result is a tool to visually compare two spectra, and downloadable peaks lists that can be used to support de novo sequencing. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: HiLight-PTM is released using shinyapps.io by RStudio, and can be accessed from any internet browser at https://harrywhitwell.shinyapps.io/hilight-ptm/. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.