Mechanism of Edman degradation.

Although the amino acid sequence may often be inferred from the DNA or mRNA sequence encoding the protein, the main method for determining the primary structure of a protein is the Edman degradation, a method involving the controlled hydrolysis of proteins. Edmun degradation is acid hydrolysis with N-terminus labeling. The amino-terminal residue is labeled, selectively cleaved, and identified, a process repeated until the sequence is determined.