On-Chip Mesoporous Functionalized Magnetic Microspheres for Protein Sequencing by Extended Bottom-up Mass Spectrometry

Nanomaterial-based magnetic solid-phase extraction in pharmaceutical and biomedical analysis

Magnetic solid-phase extraction (MSPE) holds significant scientific and technological interest as a novel sample preparation method for complex samples due to its easy operation, swift separation, high adsorption efficiency, and environmental friendliness. As the core of MSPE, magnetic sorbents have captured tremendous attention in recent years. Various promising nanomaterials, such as metal-organic frameworks and covalent organic frameworks, have been synthesized and utilized as sorbents in pharmaceutical and biomedical analysis. This review intends to (1) summarize recent progress of magnetic sorbents applied in this area and discuss their advantages, disadvantages, possible interaction mechanisms with the target substances; (2) explore their innovative applications in the analysis of pharmaceuticals, proteins, peptides, nucleic acids, nucleosides, metabolites, and other disease biomarkers from 2021 to 2024; (3) present the integration of MSPE with emerging analytical technologies; and (4) discuss the current challenges and future perspectives. It is expected to provide references and insights for the development of novel magnetic sorbents and their applications in bioanalysis.

Native mass spectrometry analysis of conjugated HSA and BSA complexes with various flavonoids

Mass spectrometry was used to study the binding interaction between serum albumin proteins (BSA and HSA) and flavone dyes, which is known to induce large fluorescence signals for protein detection. By electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), multiple charged species/states could be produced in ammonium acetate buffer, while preserving the native structures of the proteins. Subsequent introduction of a flavone dye into the buffered solution resulted in an immediate interaction, forming the respective protein-dye conjugates associated by non-covalent interactions. Formation of protein-dye conjugates induced a notable response in the ESI-MS spectra, including changes in both the charge states and molecular mass of the protein species. The resulting data pointed out that the protein-flavone dye maintained a 1 : 1 ratio in the conjugate, although multiple binding sites for drug molecules are present in albumin proteins.

Detection and separation of proteins using micro/nanofluidics devices

Microfluidics is the technology or system wherein the behavior of fluids' is studied onto a miniaturized device composed of chambers and tunnels. In biological and biomedical sciences, microfluidic technology/system or device serves as an ultra-high-output approach capable of detecting and separating the biomolecules present even in trace quantities. Given the essential role of protein, the identification and quantification of proteins help understand the various living systems' biological function regulation. Microfluidics has enormous potential to enable biological investigation at the cellular and molecular level and maybe a fair substitution of the sophisticated instruments/equipment used for proteomics, genomics, and metabolomics analysis. The current advancement in microfluidic systems' development is achieving momentum and opening new avenues in developing innovative and hybrid methodologies/technologies. This chapter attempts to expound the micro/nanofluidic systems/devices for their wide-ranging application to detect and separate protein. It covers microfluidic chip electrophoresis, microchip gel electrophoresis, and nanofluidic systems as protein separation systems, while methods such as spectrophotometric, mass spectrometry, electrochemical detection, magneto-resistive sensors and dynamic light scattering (DLS) are discussed as proteins' detection system.

Faster, better, and cheaper: harnessing microfluidics and mass spectrometry for biotechnology

High-throughput screening technologies are widely used for elucidating biological activities. These typically require trade-offs in assay specificity and sensitivity to achieve higher throughput. Microfluidic approaches enable rapid manipulation of small volumes and have found a wide range of applications in biotechnology providing improved control of reaction conditions, faster assays, and reduced reagent consumption. The integration of mass spectrometry with microfluidics has the potential to create high-throughput, sensitivity, and specificity assays. This review introduces the widely-used mass spectrometry ionization techniques that have been successfully integrated with microfluidics approaches such as continuous-flow system, microchip electrophoresis, droplet microfluidics, digital microfluidics, centrifugal microfluidics, and paper microfluidics. In addition, we discuss recent applications of microfluidics integrated with mass spectrometry in single-cell analysis, compound screening, and the study of microorganisms. Lastly, we provide future outlooks towards online coupling, improving the sensitivity and integration of multi-omics into a single platform.

Thermoresponsive Arrays Patterned via Photoclick Chemistry: Smart MALDI Plate for Protein Digest Enrichment, Desalting, and Direct MS Analysis

Sample desalting and concentration are crucial steps before matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) analysis. Current sample pretreatment approaches require tedious fabrication and operation procedures, which are unamenable to high-throughput analysis and also result in sample loss. Here, we report the development of a smart MALDI substrate for on-plate desalting, enrichment, and direct MS analysis of protein digests based on thermoresponsive, hydrophilic/hydrophobic transition of surface-grafted poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) microarrays. Superhydrophilic 1-thioglycerol microwells are first constructed on alkyne-silane-functionalized rough indium tin oxide substrates based on two sequential thiol-yne photoclick reactions, whereas the surrounding regions are modified with hydrophobic 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorodecanethiol. Surface-initiated atom-transfer radical polymerization is then triggered in microwells to form PNIPAM arrays, which facilitate sample loading and enrichment of protein digests by concentrating large-volume samples into small dots and achieving on-plate desalting through PNIPAM configuration change at elevated temperature. The smart MALDI plate shows high performance for mass spectrometric analysis of cytochrome c and neurotensin in the presence of 1 M urea and 100 mM NaHCO₃, as well as improved detection sensitivity and high sequence coverage for α-casein and cytochrome c digests in femtomole range. The work presents a versatile sample pretreatment platform with great potential for proteomic research.

Protein separation under a microfluidic regime

Lab-on-a-Chip (LoC), or micro-Total Analysis Systems (μTAS), is recognized as a powerful analytical technology with high capabilities, though end-user products for protein purification are still far from being available on the market. Remarkable progress has been achieved in the separation of nucleic acids and proteins using electrophoretic microfluidic devices, while pintsize devices have been developed for protein isolation according to miniaturized chromatography principles (size, charge, affinity, etc.). In this work, we review the latest advances in the fabrication of components, detection methods and commercial implementation for the separation of biological macromolecules based on microfluidic systems, with some critical remarks on the perspectives of their future development towards standardized microfluidic systems and protocols. An outlook on the current needs and future applications is also presented.

3D-Printed Microflow Injection Analysis Platform for Online Magnetic Nanoparticle Sorptive Extraction of Antimicrobials in Biological Specimens as a Front End to Liquid Chromatographic Assays

In this work, the concept of 3D-printed microflow injection (3D-μFI) embodying a dedicated multifunctional 3D-printed stator onto a rotary microvalve along with a mesofluidic sample preparation platform is proposed for the first time. A transparent 3D-printed stereolithographic mesofluidic chip device accommodating polyaniline (PANI) decorated magnetic nanoparticles (32.5 ± 3.8 mg) is harnessed to in-line sorptive microextraction as a front end to liquid chromatography with peak focusing. As a proof-of-concept application, the 3D-μFI assembly was resorted to matrix cleanup and automatic programmable-flow determination of organic emerging contaminants (4-hydroxybenzoate analogues and triclosan as antimicrobial model analytes) in human saliva and urine samples. By using a sample volume of 1.0 mL with a loading flow rate of 200 μL min^-1, an eluent volume of 120 μL at 80 μL min^-1, and online HPLC injection of 300 μL of the mixture of eluate and Milli-Q water (in a 1:2 ratio) to prevent band broadening effects of the most polar analytes, the limits of detection (3σ criterion) ranged from 1.1 to 4.5 ng mL^-1 for methylparaben (MP), ethylparaben (EP), propylparaben (PrP), phenylparaben (PhP), butylparaben (BP), and triclosan (TCS). Enhancement factors of 16-25 were obtained for the target analytes. Spike recoveries ranged from 84 to 117% for both saliva and urine samples. The online 3D-μFI hyphenated method is synchronized with the chromatographic separation and features a chip lifetime of more than 20 injections with minimal losses of moderately nonpolar compounds on the walls of the mesofluidic device.

Limited proteolysis in porous membrane reactors containing immobilized trypsin

Trypsin-containing membranes effect limited digestion to identify facile digestion sites in protein structures.