μl) was mixed with 1 μl sinapinic acid matrix solution (Bruker
Daltonics, Billerica, USA) containing 10 mg of sinapinic acid in 1 ml of 2.5%
trifluoroacetic acid (MilliporeSigma, Burlington, USA) and 50% acetonitrile
(MilliporeSigma, Burlington, USA). The protein-matrix suspension (2 μl)
was added to the ground steel MALDI target plate and dried at room temperature.
Mass spectra were collected using a UltrafleXtreme MALDI-TOF/TOF mass
spectrometer (Bruker Daltonic, Billerica, USA) operated with FlexControl
software in linear positive mode, i.e. using a mass range of 30,000 to 120,000
daltons. The instrument was externally calibrated with Proteins MALDI-MS
calibration kit (MilliporeSigma, Burlington, USA). Each individual mass spectrum
was analyzed and adjusted for smoothness and baseline using FlexAnalysis
software 3.0 (Bruker Daltonics, Billerica, USA). The molecular mass of the
heterodimeric GABAB1b-GABAB2 complex was determined to be
192,647.967 daltons.