In addition to co-translational acetylation Unimod and TopFIND report 11 amino-terminal PTMs check details including acetylation, mono-methylation, di-methylation and tri-methylation, formylation, carbamylation, succinylation, cyclization, propionylation, palmitoylation and myristoylation. Among these αN-acetylation

and cyclization are the only two studied in depth at the mechanistic and proteome-wide level. αN-acetylation plays an important regulatory role in protein stability and protein turnover via the N-end rule [32•• and 33]. Initially, only co-translational αN-acetylation was recognized. However, post-translational αN-acetylation is now recognized as widespread PTM occurring in

vivo [ 6•, 25••, 29••, 34, 35, 36• and 37]. Comprehensive understanding of αN-acetylation also enables the identification of alternate translational start sites utilizing the differential selleck products patterns displayed by co-translational and post-translational αN-acetylation [ 29••]. Chen et al. [ 38] for the first time described a physiological function for terminal methylation. The binding efficiency of regulator of chromatin condensation 1 (RCC1) to H2A and/or H2B depends on its terminal methylation with defective methylation leading to spindle-pole defects. Interestingly recent experiments suggest functional interplay or competition between αN-acetylation and αN-methylation [ 39] and probably also αN-propionylation, which early terminomics studies identified as occurring in vivo [ 34]. Cyclization of a terminal glutaminyl or glutamate residue forming N-pyroglutamate, a process initially believed to occur spontaneously but now recognized to be catalyzed by two glutaminylcyclases [40], attracts interest in Alzheimer’s research following the identification of a toxic pyroglutamate modified APP Aβ species (see below). In vivo sequence specificity for N-terminal cyclization has now been recently determined by TAILS, which enriches for all blocked termini, regardless

of the modification [ 29••]. Finally, attachment of fatty acid Resveratrol or prenyl moieties is not strictly limited to the terminal amino acid, but N-myristoylation and N-palmitoylation are known to mediate signaling and trafficking [ 41 and 42], making their location at a terminus special, as these sites and cell attachment can be lost upon cleavage. While this group of PTMs has been extensively studied by classical biochemical and cell biological approaches its proteome wide relevance remains to be shown. The C terminus of proteins is inherently less reactive than the N terminus. While this may lead to less extensive modification in nature, this too is the very reason for the lack of C-terminal sequencing ability and hence recognition of C terminal modifications, until recently.