Hydrophilic immobilized trypsin reactor with magnetic graphene oxide as support for high efficient proteome digestion

Uncovering immobilized trypsin digestion features from large-scale proteome data generated by high-resolution mass spectrometry

Immobilized trypsin produces very fast protein digestion, which is attractive for application to high throughput bottom-up proteomics. While there is a rich literature on the preparation of immobilized trypsin, there are very few studies that investigate its application to complex proteomic samples. In this work, we compared solution-phase trypsin with trypsin immobilized on magnetic microspheres for digestion of two complex proteomes, Escherichia coli and the MCF7 cell line. The digests were separated by HPLC, and detected with a Q-Exactive mass spectrometer, which generated high resolution and high quality parent- and fragment-ion mass spectra. The data were analyzed using MaxQuant. We make several conclusions about the features of immobilized trypsin digestion of complex proteomes. First, both immobilized and solution-phase trypsin generate peptides that sample the same protein pool. Second, immobilized trypsin can digest complex proteomes two orders of magnitude faster than solution-phase trypsin while retaining similar numbers of protein identifications and proteome depth. Digestion using immobilized trypsin for 5-min produces a similar number of missed cleavages as solution-based trypsin digestion for 4-h; digestion using immobilized trypsin for 20-min produces a similar number of missed cleavages as solution-based trypsin digestion for 12-h. Third, immobilized trypsin produces quantitatively reproducible digestion of complex proteomes. Finally, there is small but measurable loss of peptide due to non-specific adsorption to the immobilization matrix. This adsorption generates a bias against detection of basic peptides.

A capillary electrophoresis-based immobilized enzyme reactor using graphene oxide as a support via layer by layer electrostatic assembly

Using graphene oxide as an enzyme support, we developed a novel CE-based microreactor via layer-by-layer electrostatic assembly, which can be used for accurate on-line analysis and characterization of peptides and proteins.

Immobilization of trypsin via graphene oxide-silica composite for efficient microchip proteolysis

In this report, trypsin was covalently immobilized in the graphene oxide (GO)-silica composite coating on the channel wall of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) microchips to fabricate microfluidic bioreactors for highly efficient proteolysis. A mixture solution containing GO nanosheets and silica gel was injected into the channels to form coating. 1-Ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide and N-hydroxysuccinimide were used as carboxyl activating agents to crosslink the primary amino groups of trypsin to the carboxyl groups of the entrapped GO sheets in the composite to realize covalent immobilization. The feasibility and performance of the novel GO-based microfluidic bioreactors were demonstrated by the digestion of hemoglobin (HEM), cytochrome c (Cyt-c), myoglobin (MYO), and ovalbumin (OVA) and the digestion time was significantly reduced to 5s. The obtained digests were identified by MALDI-TOF MS with the sequence coverages of 95%, 76%, 69%, and 55% for HEM, Cyt-c, MYO, and OVA, respectively. The suitability of the prepared bioreactors to complex proteins was demonstrated by digesting human serum.

Biomarker discovery and applications for foods and beverages: proteomics to nanoproteomics

Foods and beverages have been at the heart of our society for centuries, sustaining humankind - health, life, and the pleasures that go with it. The more we grow and develop as a civilization, the more we feel the need to know about the food we eat and beverages we drink. Moreover, with an ever increasing demand for food due to the growing human population food security remains a major concern. Food safety is another growing concern as the consumers prefer varied foods and beverages that are not only traded nationally but also globally. The 21st century science and technology is at a new high, especially in the field of biological sciences. The availability of genome sequences and associated high-throughput sensitive technologies means that foods are being analyzed at various levels. For example and in particular, high-throughput omics approaches are being applied to develop suitable biomarkers for foods and beverages and their applications in addressing quality, technology, authenticity, and safety issues. Proteomics are one of those technologies that are increasingly being utilized to profile expressed proteins in different foods and beverages. Acquired knowledge and protein information have now been translated to address safety of foods and beverages. Very recently, the power of proteomic technology has been integrated with another highly sensitive and miniaturized technology called nanotechnology, yielding a new term nanoproteomics. Nanoproteomics offer a real-time multiplexed analysis performed in a miniaturized assay, with low-sample consumption and high sensitivity. To name a few, nanomaterials - quantum dots, gold nanoparticles, carbon nanotubes, and nanowires - have demonstrated potential to overcome the challenges of sensitivity faced by proteomics for biomarker detection, discovery, and application. In this review, we will discuss the importance of biomarker discovery and applications for foods and beverages, the contribution of proteomic technology in this process, and a shift towards nanoproteomics to suitably address associated issues. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Translational plant proteomics.