Mass spectrometry (MS) has played a major role in the proteomic analysis of an array of biological samples. Even so, inherent limitations exist such as sample complexity and the dynamic range. In an attempt to overcome these limitations, prefractionation is typically performed followed by reversed phase liquid chromatography coupled with MS. Pre-fractionation can be performed in several formats including chromatographic or electrophoretic based methods. Solution-based isoelectric point (pI) fractionation, specifically isoelectric trapping (IET), provides an attractive alternative for pre-fractionation in bottom-up proteomic studies. A recently developed device, membrane separated wells for isoelectric focusing and trapping (MSWIFT), provides rapid separation on the basis of pI and resulting solutions are MS compatible without the need for extensive sample cleanup. Initial experiments demonstrate fractionation using MSWIFT, of peptide mixtures ranging from standards to a yeast lysate where resulting fractions are analyzed using matrixassisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) – MS or further separated using reversed phase liquid chromatography followed by tandem MS (MS/MS) analysis. Identified yeast proteins range in size, pI and copy number illustrating an ability to increase the depth of proteome coverage when using MSWIFT. Extensive studies were also performed using MSWIFT in a multi-stage fractionation platform to improve peptide and protein identifications for the first large-scale proteomic study of the model fungus, Neurospora crassa. A second focus of this work is the development of a new sample preparation method for proteolytic digestion and high-throughput separations using MSWIFT. Histidine is used as a neutral pH, isoelectric, sample buffer for tryptic digestion of proteins and also assists in rapid separations using MSWIFT owing to the low conductivity. Tryptic digests of individual standard proteins and a mixture of standard proteins are used to illustrate these advantages. Finally, the histidine buffer sample preparation method is incorporated into a two-dimensional separation strategy. Tryptic peptides are fractionated using MSWIFT and resulting solutions are further separated using capillary electrophoresis (CE) coupled with MALDI-MS/MS. Performing the two-dimensional strategy allows for increased confidence in peptide and protein assignment owing to experimentally determined in-solution charge states and estimated pI values.

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Detection trace compound from human serum by matrix-assited laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry and second dimensional gel ectrophoresis

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This study focuses on the application of 193-nm excimer laser (ArF) photodissociation to tandem time-of-flight mass spectrometry. In particular, it focuses on identifying the optimal experimental conditions for peptide sequencing and applying the technology to interesting systems. The early focus is on optimizing the sample preparation conditions that define the initial internal energy state of MALDI-produced ions. Subsequent chapters investigate the effect of changing photodissociation laser conditions and define conditions under which the information content of the spectrum is maximized. Later chapters compare the photodissociation experiment to technologies that represent the current state of the art in tandem mass spectrometry, illustrating both the advantages and shortcoming of photodissociation TOF methodology. Finally, we apply photodissociation to the study of interesting systems of biological relevance, including (1) peptides derived from enzymatic digestion, (2) post-translationally modified peptides, and (3) peptide-transition metal ion complexes. In the final chapter we consider the analytical implications of the work as a whole and comment on the analytical viability of the methodology and look forward to new directions for the experiments.

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Peptide sequencing by surface-induced dissociation (SID) on a MALDI-Ion Mobility-orthogonal-TOF mass spectrometer is demonstrated. The early version of the instrument used for proof-of-concept experiments achieves a mobility resolution of approximately 20 and TOF mass resolution better than 200. Peptide sequences of four peptides from a tryptic digest of cytochrome c (ca. 1 pmol deposited) were obtained. The advantage of IM-SID-o-TOFMS is that a single experiment can be used to simultaneously measure the molecular weights of the tryptic peptide fragments (peptide mass mapping) and partial sequence analysis, (real time tandem mass spectrometry.) Optimization of the MALDI-IM-SID-o-TOF mass spectrometer for peptide sequencing is discussed. SID spectra obtained by using stainless steel, Au grids, and fluorinated self-assembled monolayers (F-SAM) on Au are compared. Optimum collision energies differ for the various surfaces. The fragmentation patterns observed for a series of peptides and protein digests using the Nd:YAG laser (355 nm) for MALDI ion formation and an FSAM surface for ion activation is compared to the fragmentation patterns observed for CID and photodissociation. The fragmentation patterns observed in all cases are strikingly similar. Photodissociation produced a greater abundance of ions resulting from side-chain cleavages. As a general rule optimized SID spectra contain fewer immonium ions than either photodissociation or CID. Evaluation of an instrument incorporating a new hybrid drift cell is discussed. Spectra for a digest of hemoglobin is compared to that acquired with an ABI 4700 TOF-TOF. The performance of the instrument is also evaluated using a micro-crystal Nd:YAG laser (355 nm) for MALDI operated at 400 Hz. Experiments were performed to determine the sensitivity and overall performance of the instrument. The reproducibility of the MS/MS spectra for gramicidin S is shown to be 94% run-to-run. The best mobility resolution obtained for a neat deposition of the dye Crystal Violet was 60 t/∆t. Sensitivity was tested with the peptide fibrinopeptide A (m/z 1537, AA sequence ADSGEGDFLAEGGGVR). Data acquired for sixty seconds with approximately sixty femtomoles deposited. Abundant [M+H]+ ions where observed as well as [M+H]+-NH3 ions. The S/N for this short run was insufficient to identify any SID fragments

Protein phosphorylation is a very common posttranslational modification (PTM), which lately has been found to hold the keyrole in the development of many severe diseases, including cancer. Thereby, phosphoprotein analysis tools, generally based on specific enrichment of the phosphoryl group, have been a hot topic during the last decade. In this thesis, two new TiO2-based on-target enrichment methods are developed and presented together with enlightening fundamental results. Evaluation of the developed methods was performed by the analysis of: custom peptides, β-casein, drinking milk, and the viral protein pIIIa. The results show that: i) by optimizing the enrichment protocol (first method), new phosphorylated peptides can be found and ii) by the addition of a separation step after the enrichment (second method), more multi-phosphorylated peptides, which usually are hard to find, could be detected. The fundamental part, on the other hand, shows that the phosphopeptide adsorption is caused by electrostatic interactions, in general follows the Langmuir model, and the affinity increases with the phosphorylation degree. Here, however, the complexity of the system was also discovered, as the adsorption mechanism was found to be affected by the amino acid sequence of the phosphopeptide.