Paper accepted: “LCP Simulator: An easy-to-use web tool to simulate pattern analysis and enzymatic cleavage of binary linear copolymers”

And again! Yet another of Margareta Hellmann’s manuscripts has been accepted for publication today, in the journal SoftwareX. One of the major breakthroughs in chitosan analytics which we – that is Dr. Stefan Cord-Landwehr and his team in our group – achieved over the past decade was the development of enzymatic-mass spectrometric fingerprinting (EMS-FP) for the analysis of the fraction and pattern of acetylation of chitosan polymers: the polymer is hydrolysed using enzymes with known cleavage specificities, and the analysis of the resulting oligomers informs about the structural details of the original polymer. The method can also be used as reverse EMS-FP for the analysis of cleavage specificities of chitosanolytic enzymes when a polymer with known structure is used as a substrate. To facilitate these analyses, Margareta developed a computer-based simulation of the process. We thought this might be useful for others as well, and Margareta therefore designed an interface that allows users to easily run such simulations using just their internet browser (https://lcp-simulator.anvil.app) without the need to register or to be experienced in bioinformatics. The simulator can not only be used for chitosans, of course, but also for other binary linear copolymers such as partially methyl-esterified homogalacturonan pectins. It was not easy to publish this, because it was not easy for editors to find reviewers who considered themselves competent to evaluate the manuscript – but it finally worked out!