水凝胶涂覆纸喷雾离子化用于生物流体样品直接质谱分析

基于琼脂糖水凝胶涂覆的纸基质,实现了纸喷雾离子化,建立了一种新的纸喷雾离子化质谱技术,直接分析生物流体样品。利用纸表面涂覆的水凝胶材料限制液滴的扩散,使互不相溶的喷雾溶剂液滴与生物样品液滴之间形成液液萃取,提高了检测灵敏度。同时通过限制液滴扩散,减少了喷雾溶剂挥发面积,降低了挥发速度,获得了时间更长的稳定质谱信号,可对生物流体样品中的低丰度药物快速、准确定量。相较于常规纸喷雾离子化,该方法喷雾时间延长近10倍,分析物信号提高近100倍,定量分析全血和尿液中的药物,检出限可降低7~33倍。方法材料制备简单,方便快捷,灵敏度高,在现场临床诊断上具有很大的应用潜力。     

电喷雾电离质谱测定细胞色素b5及其定点突变蛋白

本文利用电喷雾电离质谱技术对胰蛋白酶酶解的细胞色素b5蛋白Tb5及脂肪酶酶解的细胞色素b5蛋白Lb5及它们的定点突变蛋白共八个样品的分子量进行精确测定, 证实定点突变的试验是成功的。     

小型微波谐振腔用于蛋白质微波辅助酶解

采用微波谐振腔对细胞色素c以及牛血清白蛋白进行微波辅助酶解, 通过电喷雾三级四极杆质谱对得到的肽段进行分析, 证明该方法可用很低的微波功率将蛋白质彻底酶解为多肽. 通过调整微波条件可以使蛋白质的酶解效率基本达到100％, 细胞色素c和牛血清白蛋白的序列覆盖率分别为45％和26％. 该方法不但可将蛋白酶解时间由传统方法的16 h缩短为20 min, 还将功率由使用微波炉时的数百瓦降至20 W.     

新型纳升级毛细管刻蚀电喷雾质谱接口研究

对普通石英毛细管表面使用氢氟酸刻蚀技术进行刻蚀, 并与商品化鞘流液毛细管电泳-质谱接口(Sheathflow CE-MS interface)结合, 将其改装成一种新型的纳升级电喷雾质谱接口. 玻璃膜接口部分呈多孔结构, 壁厚约10 μm. 以细胞色素c对新型接口加以评价, 样品的流量最低可达到20 nL/min; 在50~500 nL/min流量范围内刻蚀接口具有较高的响应信号. 考察了接触电解质溶液对样品电离的影响; 比较微升级不锈钢接口和新型接口的蛋白质检测结果发现, 在流速为200 nL/min时, 检测灵敏度可以提高3.6倍.     

辅助电极对纳升电喷雾影响的研究

电喷雾质谱作为一种有效的软电离技术易于和各种液相分离技术如高效液相色谱以及毛细管电泳等技术实现在线联用,已越来越广泛地用于生物大分子的分析鉴定,但常规电喷雾技术要求分析试剂流速一般为1～10μL／min,耗样量大．因而低样品消耗、高灵敏的纳升电喷雾技术的研究越来越受到重视。纳升电喷雾技术因其喷雾头口径较小,产生的泰勒锥体也相应减小,样品分子的去溶剂化和离子化效率大大提高,有文献报道,利用纳升电喷雾技术可检测到10^-18mol级蛋白样品。     

液相色谱-离子阱质谱对水华蓝藻提取物中微囊藻毒素的定性研究

本文研究了野外蓝藻水华样品甲醇提取物的液相色谱和电喷雾质谱特征图谱,利用电喷雾离子化-串联质谱(ESI-MSn)离子阱技术对特征图谱中主要微囊藻毒素的分子离子峰进行了二级质谱分析,获得相应的子离子质谱图,并对其进行了结构解析,确定了野外蓝藻水华样品中微囊藻毒素种类,为准确鉴定和分析水华蓝藻中微囊藻毒素提供了基础.     

微量生物样品中糖蛋白N-糖链电喷雾电离质谱分析前处理方法的建立

基于电喷雾电离质谱检测技术,建立了一种可靠、高效、简单,适合于微量糖蛋白N-糖链解离、富集纯化的方法.以糖蛋白牛胰核糖核酸酶(Rib B)和卵清白蛋白(OVA)为模型蛋白直接酶解,比较了4种方法纯化酶解样品的效果.比较了直接酶解和经过聚偏氟乙烯(PVDF)膜富集后酶解微量复杂生物来源样品胎牛血清的酶解效果,最终建立了微量生物样品中糖蛋白N-糖链的质谱分析前处理方法.采用PVDF膜吸附复杂生物样品中的糖蛋白,N-糖苷酶F(PNGase F)酶直接在膜上完成糖链释放(37℃,24 h),采用微晶纤维素柱结合石墨碳柱对糖链进行富集纯化,用于微克级胎牛血清和健康人血清中N-糖链质谱分析的前处理.本方法通用性好,在微量生物样品糖链质谱分析检测的前处理方面具有一定应用价值.     

萃取纳升喷雾-离子迁移谱法现场快速筛查化妆品中8种禁用抗生素

采用萃取纳升喷雾结合离子迁移谱技术,建立了化妆品中8种禁用抗生素的现场快速筛查方法。对萃取纳升喷雾毛细管拉制条件、萃取纳升喷雾离子化条件、离子迁移谱检测条件等进行了详细考察和优化。在优化的实验条件下,8种禁用抗生素的方法检出限为20 mg/kg,离子迁移谱分析时间小于20 ms,单个样品全部检测时间不超过30 s。对于筛检出的疑似阳性样品,进一步采用超高效液相色谱-串联质谱进行确证。该方法流程简便、快捷高效,为化妆品中违禁组分的现场快速筛查提供了较为广阔的应用前景。     

常压敞开式离子化-离子迁移谱法快速筛查玩具中14种致癌致敏染料

采用常压敞开式离子化结合离子迁移谱技术,研究建立了蜡笔、水贴纸、橡皮泥等玩具样品中14种致癌致敏染料的快速筛查方法。无需繁琐的样品前处理过程,玩具样品经纸喷雾或萃取纳升喷雾,将上样、萃取、电离等步骤集成为一步实现,并在16 ms内完成了离子迁移谱分析检测。同时还对疑似阳性样品建立了超高效液相色谱-串联质谱的确证方法。14种致癌致敏染料的检出限为0.5~2 mg/kg。该方法流程便捷、快速高效,适用于玩具样品的现场快速筛查。     

常压直接离子化-离子迁移谱法快速筛查玩具中4种初级芳香胺

采用常压直接离子化结合离子迁移谱技术,研究并建立了蜡笔、纹身贴纸、液体玩具、手指画颜料、橡皮泥等多种玩具样品中2-萘胺、4-氯-2-甲基苯胺、4-氨基联苯和联苯胺4种初级芳香胺的现场快速筛查方法。样品无需经过繁琐的前处理过程,不同玩具样品采用纸喷雾、纳升萃取喷雾等常压直接离子化方法,将取样、萃取、电离等步骤集成为一步实现,并在12ms内完成离子迁移谱的仪器分析检测,4种初级芳香胺的方法检出限在0.5~2mg/kg之间。对于经离子迁移谱快速筛检出的疑似阳性样品,同时还建立了高效液相色谱-串联质谱确证方法。本方法快速便捷,适用于玩具质量安全现场快速筛查检测。     

Shifts in protein charge state distributions with varying redox reagents in nanoelectrospray triple quadrupole mass spectrometry

The influence of a number of redox reagents on the charge state distribution in nanoelectrospray mass spectrometry was examined using cytochrome c and ubiquitin. The redox active species investigated were: 1,4-benzoquinone, quinhydrone, tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ), hydroquinone, and ascorbic acid. The redox active species was mixed with the protein sample before injection into the nanoelectrospray emitter, and mass spectra were acquired using a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer. Under the same experimental conditions, the charge state distribution of cytochrome c was observed to shift from a weighted average charge state of 14.25 (in the absence of redox species) to 7.10 in the presence of 1,4-benzoquinone. When quinhydrone was mixed with cytochrome c, the charge state distribution of the protein also shifted to lower charge states (weighted average charge state = 9.43), indicative of less charge state reduction for quinhydrone than with 1,4-benzoquinone. Addition of the redox reagent had little effect on the conformation of cytochrome c, as indicated by far ultraviolet circular dichroism spectra. In contrast, the reagents TCNQ, hydroquinone, and ascorbic acid exhibited negligible effects on the observed charge state distribution of the protein. The differing results for these redox reagents can be rationalized in terms of the redox half reactions involving these species. The results observed with ubiquitin upon adding quinhydrone were analogous to those observed with cytochrome c.     

Characterization of acid-induced protein conformational changes and noncovalent complexes in solution by using coldspray ionization mass spectrometry

Coldspray ionization (CSI) mass spectrometry, a variant of electrospray ionization (ESI) operating at low temperature (20 to −80°C), has been used to characterize protein conformation and noncovalent complexes. A comparison of CSI and ESI was presented for the investigation of the equilibrium acid-induced unfolding of cytochrome c, ubiquitin, myoglobin, and cyclophilin A (CypA) over a wide range of pH values in aqueous solutions. CSI and nanoelectrospray ionization (nanoESI) were also compared in their performance to characterize the conformational changes of cytochrome c and myoglobin. Significant differences were observed, with narrower charged-state distribution and a shift to lower charge state in the CSI mass spectra compared with those in ESI and nanoESI mass spectra. The results suggest that CSI is more prone to preserving folded protein conformations in solution than the ESI and nanoESI methods. Moreover, the CSI-MS data are comparable with those obtained by other established biophysical methods, which are generally acknowledged to be the suitable techniques for monitoring protein conformation in solution. Noncovalent complexes of holomyoglobin and the protein-ligand complex between CypA and cyclosporin A (CsA) were also investigated at a neutral pH using the CSI-MS method. The results of this study suggest the ability of CSI-MS in retaining of protein conformation and noncovalent interactions in solution and probing subtle protein conformational changes. Additionally, the CSI-MS method is capable of analyzing quantitatively equilibrium unfolding transitions of proteins. CSI-MS may become one of the promising techniques for investigating protein conformation and noncovalent protein-ligand interactions in solution.     

Top-down characterization of proteins and drug-protein complexes using nanoelectrospray tandem mass spectrometry

We report a 'top-down' approach for characterization of proteins, and identification of binding sites in protein-drug complexes using nanoelectrospray ionization hybrid quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (nanoESI-MS/MS). The efficiency of direct fragmentation of intact protein ions and the feasibility of this method were initially demonstrated using several well-characterized proteins with different molecular weights including metallothionein (6126 Da), cytochrome c (horse, 12360 Da), myoglobin (horse, 16592 Da), and hemoglobin (human, 64453 Da). Simply varying collision energy without enzyme digestion and gel or LC separation generated a range of peptide fragments of these proteins. Over 80% of these peptide ions matched those in the SWISS-PROT database with mass accuracy of 8 to 32 ppm with external calibration. This technique was further applied to fragment a cisplatin-metallothionein complex to identify the binding sites, demonstrating a potential application in the study of drug-protein binding.     

Signal enhancement in desorption nanoelectrospray ionization by custom‐made inlet with pressure regulation

The efficiency of desorption/ionization becomes more critical as the sampled surface area decreases. Desorption electrospray and desorption nanoelectrospray belong to ambient ionizations and enable direct surface analysis including mass spectrometric imaging. Lateral resolution in tens of micrometers was demonstrated for desorption nanoelectrospray previously, but sensitivity of the surface scan can be an issue. For desorption electrospray, the drag force in the source is driven by the flow of used gases and vacuum suction. Ion signal intensity can be improved by controlling the nebulizing gas flow rate or auxiliary pumping of a closed compartment in front of the mass spectrometer inlet. Because nanoelectrospray generates charged droplets without the assistance of a nebulizing gas, only vacuum suction drives the gas flow. In this study, the effect of pressure drop between the atmospheric and evacuated region of a mass spectrometer on the ion signal intensity was investigated for desorption nanoelectrospray. A modification of the commercial inlet was designed. An auxiliary pump was directly connected to an inner compartment of the modified mass spectrometer inlet through a needle valve that enabled the regulation of the reduced pressure. Adjustment of the pressure drop significantly increased signal intensity (more than one order of magnitude in some cases). To a lesser extent, the temperature of a heated capillary (an integral part of the inlet) also influenced the signal intensity. The applicability of desorption nanoelectrospray equipped with pressure regulation was demonstrated by the analysis of synthetic cathinones or a pill of paracetamol. Because pressure in the inlet depends on the diameters of orifices and the power of vacuum systems of mass spectrometers, the effect of the pressure regulation can be different for different instruments. Nevertheless, the presented results confirmed the importance of pressure drop‐driven transport for desorption nanoelectrospray efficiency and can encourage its new applications.     

表面修饰探针纳升电喷雾质谱脂质组学对大型溞和蚤状溞的快速鉴别

采用表面修饰探针敞开式纳升电喷雾质谱技术建立了脂质组学方法, 以实现溞属(Daphnia)生物大型溞和蚤状溞的快速鉴别. 采用微尺度表面修饰探针直接从Daphnia体内萃取和富集出脂质化合物, 然后在常压敞开条件下进行纳升电喷雾质谱分析, 利用高分辨率质谱仪获得脂质指纹图谱并进行脂质种类和结构鉴定. 采用该方法获得了大型溞和蚤状溞的脂质指纹图谱, 并研究了大型溞和蚤状溞体内的脂质组成特征. 通过结合化学计量学手段实现了大型溞和蚤状溞的快速区分, 并鉴定了相关的生物标志物. 结果表明, 所建立的微萃取探针纳升电喷雾质谱脂质组学方法具有分析速度快、 灵敏度高的优点, 可用于Daphnia属生物的快速鉴定和识别.     

Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry from discrete nanoliter‐sized sample volumes

We describe a method for nanoelectrospray ionization mass spectrometry (nESI‐MS) of very small sample volumes. Nanoliter‐sized sample droplets were taken up by suction into a nanoelectrospray needle from a silicon microchip prior to ESI. To avoid a rapid evaporation of the small sample volumes, all manipulation steps were performed under a cover of fluorocarbon liquid. Sample volumes down to 1.5 nL were successfully analyzed, and an absolute limit of detection of 105 attomole of insulin (chain B, oxidized) was obtained. The open access to the sample droplets on the silicon chip provides the possibility to add reagents to the sample droplets and perform chemical reactions under an extended period of time. This was demonstrated in an example where we performed a tryptic digestion of cytochrome C in a nanoliter‐sized sample volume for 2.5 h, followed by monitoring the outcome of the reaction with nESI‐MS. The technology was also utilized for tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) sequencing analysis of a 2 nL solution of angiotensin I. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Characterization of phosphopeptides from protein digests using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry and nanoelectrospray quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry

A two-step mass spectrometric method for characterization of phosphopeptides from peptide mixtures is presented. In the first step, phosphopeptide candidates were identified by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOFMS) based on their higher relative intensities in negative ion MALDI spectra than in positive ion MALDI spectra. The detection limit for this step was found to be 18 femtomoles or lower in the case of unfractionated in-solution digests of a model phosphoprotein, beta-casein. In the second step, nanoelectrospray tandem mass (nES-MS/MS) spectra of doubly or triply charged precursor ions of these candidate phosphopeptides were obtained using a quadrupole time-of-flight (Q-TOF) mass spectrometer. This step provided information about the phosphorylated residues, and ruled out nonphosphorylated candidates, for these peptides. After [(32)P] labeling and reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) to simplify the mixtures and to monitor the efficiency of phosphopeptide identification, we used this method to identify multiple autophosphorylation sites on the PKR-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase (PERK), a recently discovered mammalian stress-response protein.     

Resonance Raman optical activity and surface enhanced resonance Raman optical activity analysis of cytochrome c

High-resolution resonance Raman (RR) and resonance Raman optical activity (ROA) spectra of cytochrome c were obtained in order to perform full assignment of spectral features of the resonance ROA spectrum. The resonance ROA spectrum of cytochrome c revealed a distinct spectral signature pattern due to resonance enhanced skeletal porphyrin vibrations, more pronounced than any contribution from the protein backbone. Combining the intrinsic resonance properties of cytochrome c with the surface plasmon enhancement achieved with colloidal silver particles, the surface enhanced resonance Raman scattering (SERRS) and surface enhanced resonance ROA (SERROA) spectra of the protein were successfully obtained at concentrations as low as 1 microM. The assignments of spectral features were based on the information obtained from the RR and resonance ROA spectra. Excellent agreement between RR and SERRS spectra is reported, while some disparities were observed between the resonance ROA and SERROA spectra. These differences can be ascribed to perturbations of the physical properties of the protein upon adhesion to the surface of the silver colloids.     

Simplified capillary isoelectric focusing with chemical mobilization for intact protein analysis

We report a capillary isoelectric focusing system based on a sequential injection method for simplified chemical mobilization. This system was coupled to an ion trap mass spectrometer with an electrokinetically pumped nanoelectrospray interface. The nanoelectrospray emitter employed an acidic sheath electrolyte. To simplify focusing and mobilization, a plug of ammonium hydroxide was first injected into the capillary, followed by a section of mixed sample and ampholyte. During focusing, the NH₃H₂O section worked as catholyte. As focusing progressed, the NH₃H₂O section was titrated to lower pH by the acidic sheath electrolyte. Chemical mobilization started automatically once the ammonium hydroxide was consumed by the acidic sheath flow electrolyte, which then acted as the mobilization solution. In this report, the lengths of the NH₃H₂O section and sample were optimized. With a 1 m long capillary, a relative short plug of the NH₃H₂O section (3 cm) produced both fast migration and reasonable separation resolution. The simplified capillary isoelectric focusing mass spectrometry system produced base peak intensity relative standard deviation of 8.5% and migration time relative standard deviation ≤0.6% for myoglobin and cytochrome C in triplicate runs.