Hydrazide-functionalized magnetic microspheres for the selective enrichment of digested tryptophan-containing peptides in serum

Selective enrichment of N-terminal proline peptides via hydrazide chemistry for proteomics analysis

A challenge for shotgun proteomics is the identification of low abundance proteins, which is always hampered owing to the extreme complexity of protein digests and highly dynamic concentration range of proteins. To reduce the complexity of the peptide mixture, we developed a novel method to selectively enrich N-terminal proline peptides via hydrazide chemistry. This method consisted of ortho-phthalaldehyde (OPA) blocking of primary amines in peptides, reductive glutaraldehydation of N-terminal proline and solid phase hydrazide chemistry enrichment of aldehyde-modified N-terminal proline peptide. After enrichment, the number of detected peptides containing N-terminal proline increased from 1304 to 4039 and the ratio of N-terminal proline peptides jumped from 4.4% to 93.7%, showing good enrichment specificity towards N-terminal proline peptides. Besides, the ratio of identified peptides to proteins was decreased from 7.8 (29751/3811) to 1.5 (4347/2821), indicating that sample complexity was drastically reduced through this method. As a result, this novel approach for enriching N-terminal proline peptides is effective in identification of low abundance protein owing to the reduction of sample complexity.

Hydrazide functionalized magnetic nanoparticles for specific extraction of N-terminal serine and threonine peptides

In this study, we present hydrazide functionalized magnetic nanoparticles as a sorbent prepared by a new and facile method. Scanning electron microscope and Fourier transform infrared were used for characterizing the synthesized nanoparticles. The ability of the sorbent to extract N-terminal serine and threonine peptides was evaluated. The peptides were modified by oxidation of the hydroxyl group in the 1,2-amino alcohol structure before extraction. These aldehyde-forms of peptides were specifically bonded to the hydrazide groups of the sorbent. The formed hydrazone bonds were cleaved in the presence of hydroxylamine reagent. Finally, the oximated peptides were released and quantified with a high-performance liquid chromatography-diode array spectroscopy. The effects of experimental parameters including extraction time, elution time and elution volume on extraction efficiency were also investigated. The required time for the extraction process to reach equilibrium and elution time was only 8 h. The adsorption efficiency of the sorbent was 79 and 77% for peptides with N-terminal serine and threonine, respectively. The sorbent showed good specificity for extracting the peptides. In addition, the extraction efficiency of the sorbent remained constant in the presence of a non-N-terminal serine and threonine peptide as interference.

Applications of reversible covalent chemistry in analytical sample preparation

Reversible covalent chemistry (RCC) adds another dimension to commonly used sample preparation techniques like solid-phase extraction (SPE), solid-phase microextraction (SPME), molecular imprinted polymers (MIPs) or immuno-affinity cleanup (IAC): chemical selectivity. By selecting analytes according to their covalent reactivity, sample complexity can be reduced significantly, resulting in enhanced analytical performance for low-abundance target analytes. This review gives a comprehensive overview of the applications of RCC in analytical sample preparation. The major reactions covered include reversible boronic ester formation, thiol-disulfide exchange and reversible hydrazone formation, targeting analyte groups like diols (sugars, glycoproteins and glycopeptides, catechols), thiols (cysteinyl-proteins and cysteinyl-peptides) and carbonyls (carbonylated proteins, mycotoxins). Their applications range from low abundance proteomics to reversible protein/peptide labelling to antibody chromatography to quantitative and qualitative food analysis. In discussing the potential of RCC, a special focus is on the conditions and restrictions of the utilized reaction chemistry.