Novel Three-Dimensional MALDI Plate for Interfacing High-Capacity LC Separations with MALDI-TOF

Rapid fabrication of functionalized plates for peptides, glycopeptides and protein purification and mass spectrometry analysis

A rapid and simple approach for fabricating a disposable functionalized membrane on matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) targets, glass, or plastic substrates, without using complex mechanical protocols or chemical reactions, was developed for sample enrichment and mass spectrometry analysis. By coating functionalized-silica particles on a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-coated plate, these particles can form a monolayer of materials on the PDMS membrane for sample handling without peeling off. An octadecyl(C18)-functionalized plate was fabricated by coating porous C18-silica particles on a PDMS-coated plate. The C18 particle-coated PDMS plate (CP plate) has better sensitivity than C18 tips and magnetic nanoparticles, along with a higher sample recovery (64.3 ± 4.9%) compared to the C18 tip method, when analyzing trace amounts of 5 fm BSA digest samples. The CP plate shows significantly higher urea/SDS removal efficiency on the cell lysate proteome compared to C18 tips. The capacity of the C18 spot (∼2.8 mm in diameter) on the CP plate was ∼10 μg of BSA digests. A hydrophilic particle-coated PDMS plate was also fabricated and successfully used for glycopeptide enrichment and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) analysis.

Liquid chromatography-matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometric imaging with sprayed matrix for improved sensitivity, reproducibility and quantitation

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometric imaging (MSI) has been employed as a detection method for both capillary electrophoresis (CE)-MALDI and liquid chromatography (LC)-MALDI analyses. Based on our previous studies, here we report a new interface to couple LC with MSI by employing an automated matrix sprayer. The LC trace is directly collected on a ground stainless steel MALDI plate and dried. The matrix is sprayed on the MALDI plate using a programmable matrix sprayer. With the highly uniform matrix layers produced from the sprayer, the MS image signal quality is significantly improved with enhanced signal-to-noise ratios for analyte peaks. With the programmable matrix application and imaging MS data acquisition, the new LC-MSI platform exhibits highly stable and reproducible performance. A total of 87 bovine serum albumin (BSA) tryptic peptides and 295 putative neuropeptides from blue crab pericardial organs have been observed with LC-MSI analysis, exhibiting better performance in terms of peptide coverage than regular LC-MALDI with discrete spot collection and our previously reported LC-MSI interface with the matrix being delivered by a capillary. In addition to relative quantitation with isotopic labeling as we have previously demonstrated, we performed the first absolute quantitation using the new LC-MSI platform and obtained accurate quantitation results for neuropeptides, indicating great potential for quantitative analysis of complex samples.

Semi-automated liquid chromatography-mass spectrometric imaging platform for enhanced detection and improved data analysis of complex peptides

A semi-automated analytical platform featuring the coupling of monolithic reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RPLC) to matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometric imaging (MALDI MSI) has been developed and evaluated. This is the first time that LC separation is readily coupled to MS imaging detection for the analysis of complex peptide mixtures both qualitatively and quantitatively. Methacrylate-based monolithic column with C12 functional groups is fabricated for fast RPLC separation. The LC flow and matrix flow are collected on a commercially available MALDI plate which is mechanically controlled and analyzed with MALDI MSI subsequently. Both tryptic peptides digested from bovine serum albumin (BSA) and endogenous neuropeptides extracted from the blue crab Callinectes sapidus are analyzed with this novel LC-MSI platform. Compared with regular offline LC fractionation coupled with MALDI MS detection, LC-MSI exhibits significantly increased MS signal intensity due to retaining of temporal resolution from separation dimension via continuous sampling, which results in increased number of peptides detected and accurate quantitation. In addition, imaging signals enable improved data analysis based on either mass-to-charge ratio or retention time, which is extremely beneficial for the analysis of complex analytes. These findings have demonstrated the potential of employing LC-MSI platform for enhanced proteomics and peptidomics studies.

Facile analysis of metabolites by capillary electrophoresis coupled to matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry using target plates with polysilazane nanocoating and grooves

We present an inexpensive method and apparatus for the deposition of analytes separated by capillary electrophoresis (CE) onto a custom-designed matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) target plate. This dedicated CE-MALDI plate is coated with an omniphobic polysilazane nanocoating and has an array of parallel grooves acting as recipients of the separation effluent. The 3-D pattern in the top layer of the coated plate greatly improves loading of the matrix solution prior to separation and facilitates deposition of the separated species. We demonstrate application of this straightforward protocol to the analysis of metabolites from the central metabolic pathway in a complex biological sample spiked with small molecule standards.