Online deposition of nano‐aerosol for matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry

An online nano‐aerosol sample deposition method for matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry is described in which matrix and analyte particles between 50 and 500 nm are aerodynamically focused onto a tight spot, ca. 200 µm in diameter, on the target plate under vacuum. MALDI analysis of the target is performed without additional sample preparation. The method is evaluated with insulin as the analyte and alpha‐cyano‐4‐hydroxycinnamic acid (CHCA) as the matrix. Two preparation modes are compared with conventional dried‐droplet deposition: mixture deposition where a single layer is deposited consisting of particles that contain both matrix and analyte, and layered deposition where an underlayer of matrix particles and an overlayer of analyte particles are deposited separately. Desalting is performed by adding ammonium sulfate to the solution used to generate the matrix aerosol. With mixture deposition, the optimum matrix‐to‐analyte mole ratio is about 500:1 compared with 5000:1 for the conventional dried‐droplet method. With layered deposition, the thicknesses of the matrix and analyte layers are more important determinants of the analyte signal intensity than the matrix‐to‐analyte mole ratio. Analyte signal intensities are independent of matrix layer thickness above 200 nm, and the optimum analyte signal is obtained with an analyte layer thickness of about 100 nm. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Improving the signal intensity and sensitivity of MALDI mass spectrometry by using nanoliter spots deposited by induction-based fluidics

A new contact-free, small droplet deposition method using an induction-based fluidics (IBF) technique to dispense nanoliter drops is described and evaluated for sample preparation in matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS). The signal intensities available when using nanoliter spots are greater than those obtained with normal, microliter spots when the same amount of analyte is used. When using an ionic-liquid matrix, the improvement in sensitivity is equal to the concentration enhancement that was achieved by using smaller quantities of matrix. When using a conventional solid matrix, however, the increase in signal intensity shows a more complicated relationship to concentration. The approach of nanoliter deposition also supports multiple spotting to increase sample concentration and, thus, sample signal intensity. Nanoliter spotting not only improves the signal intensity and sensitivity achieved by MALDI-MS but also allows a major fraction of trace samples to be saved for other experiments, thus expanding the application of MALDI-MS to biological studies where sample quantity is limited.     

Infrared Laser Ablation Sample Transfer for MALDI and Electrospray

We have used an infrared laser to ablate materials under ambient conditions that were captured in solvent droplets. The droplets were either deposited on a MALDI target for off-line analysis by MALDI time-of-flight mass spectrometry or flow-injected into a nanoelectrospray source of an ion trap mass spectrometer. An infrared optical parametric oscillator (OPO) laser system at 2.94 μm wavelength and approximately 1 mJ pulse energy was focused onto samples for ablation at atmospheric pressure. The ablated material was captured in a solvent droplet 1–2 mm in diameter that was suspended from a silica capillary a few millimeters above the sample target. Once the sample was transferred to the droplet by ablation, the droplet was deposited on a MALDI target. A saturated matrix solution was added to the deposited sample, or in some cases, the suspended capture droplet contained the matrix. Peptide and protein standards were used to assess the effects of the number of IR laser ablation shots, sample to droplet distance, capture droplet size, droplet solvent, and laser pulse energy. Droplet collected samples were also injected into a nanoelectrospray source of an ion trap mass spectrometer with a 500 nL injection loop. It is estimated that pmol quantities of material were transferred to the droplet with an efficiency of approximately 1%. The direct analysis of biological fluids for off-line MALDI and electrospray was demonstrated with blood, milk, and egg. The implications of this IR ablation sample transfer approach for ambient imaging are discussed.     

The influence of electrospray deposition in matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry sample preparation for synthetic polymers

Although electrospray sample deposition in matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry (MS) sample preparation increases the repeatability of both the MALDI signal intensity and the measured molecular mass distribution (MMD), the electrospray sample deposition method may influence the apparent MMD of a synthetic polymer. The MMDs of three polymers of differing thermal stability, polystyrene (PS), poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), and poly(propylene glycol) (PPG), were studied by MALDI time-of-flight (TOF) MS as the electrospray deposition voltage was varied. The MMDs obtained using the electrospray deposition method were compared with those obtained for hand-spotted samples. No change was observed in the measured polymer MMD when the electrospray deposition voltage was varied in the analysis of PS, but those of PEG and PPG changed at higher electrospray voltages due to increased ion fragmentation. It was also shown that the fragmentation in the hand-spotted samples is dependent on the matrix used in sample preparation.     

Preliminary investigation of electrodynamic charged droplet processing to couple capillary liquid chromatography with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry

Charged droplet processing methodology, that utilizes electrodynamic levitation technology to control the trajectories of picoliter volume charged droplets and deliver them to a target plate at atmospheric pressure, has been developed. Termed wall-less sample preparation (WaSP), this methodology offers several features that could prove beneficial to the preparation of sample spots from separation column effluents for matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) analysis. These features include solute pre-concentration factors of 10(1) to 10(3) due to volatile solvent evaporation prior to droplet deposition onto the target plate, high spatial accuracy of the deposition position of each processed droplet (+/-5 microm), and the ability to prepare sample spots as small as 20 microm in diameter from a single droplet. Here a new mode of operation of this methodology is described and used as an offline post-column pre-concentrating interface between capillary liquid chromatography (capLC) and a target plate for offline MALDI-MS. Using a fraction from the capLC separation of peptides produced by the proteolytic digestion of the protein cytidine 5'-triphosphate:phosphocholine cytidylyltransferase, MALDI sample spots were prepared using the dried-droplet method, direct piezoelectric droplet dispensing, and the processing of piezo-dispensed droplets by WaSP. The sample spot morphology was investigated using light microscopy, and peptide ion abundances produced by MALDI were measured using time-of-flight (TOF) MS. The advantages of developing an online capLC/WaSP interface with MALDI-MS in the future are discussed along with some of the challenges that may be encountered in such an endeavor.     

Investigations of electrospray sample deposition for polymer MALDI mass spectrometry

In the interest of a more thorough understanding of the relationship between sample deposition technique and the quality of data obtained using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry, details of the electrospray (ES) process of sample deposition are investigated using a number of techniques. Sample morphology was observed with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM), while matrix-enhanced secondary ion mass spectrometry (MESIMS) monitored surface coverage. Electrospray deposition reduces the analyte segregation that can occur during traditional dried droplet deposition for MALDI. We attribute statistically significant improvements in the reproducibility of signal intensity and MALDI average molecular mass measurements to the ES sample deposition technique.     

Droplet electrocoupling between capillary electrophoresis and matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight-mass spectroscopy and its application.

A droplet of an electroconductive solution was put on the sample plate of a matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight-mass spectroscope (MALDI-TOF-MS) and the outlet terminal of a capillary Electrophoresis (CE) capillary was put into this droplet in order to make an electro-connection and to apply high voltage between the metallic sample plate and the counter pole of the CE. This procedure was simple and gave much more stable interfacing than that of the electrospray method. Furthermore, the separated component was collected and concentrated in a droplet. By mixing each separated sample spot with the MALDI matrix on the sample plate, the spots were analyzed in separated sequences to make three-dimensional mass chromatograms, or applied to the enzyme digestion analysis for peptide sequencing.     

Determination of plasma heparin by micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography

The micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography (MECC) method is reported for the separation of heparin, and for the possibility of direct determination of free heparin in plasma. The conditions for MECC were: pH 8.5, 25 mM sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), 25 mM borate buffer, with a 30 cmx50 mum ID fused-silica capillary. The sample was detected with a UV-detector at 270 nm with heparin as external standard. The recovery rate was 95.6-98.7%. This method was linear in the range 80-7000 U l(-1). The within-run and between-run relative standard deviations were lower than 3.1 and 4.5%, respectively. It is suggested that this MECC method may be used to determine blood samples containing high levels of heparin.     

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry of collected bioaerosol particles

A method was developed for collection and analysis of bioaerosols by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) time-of-flight mass spectrometry using a modified Andersen N6 bioaerosol collector. The overall goal of the study was to develop methods for obtaining mass spectra with minimal reagents and treatment steps for potential use in remote collection and analysis systems. Test bioaerosol particles were generated from a nebulized E. coli bacterial suspension and collected on MALDI targets placed in an Andersen N6 single-stage aerosol impactor. The bioaerosols were mixed with matrix either by deposition on a bare target with the matrix solution added later, or by deposition on a target pre-coated with matrix. The matrix compounds alpha-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamic acid (CHCA) and sinapic acid (SA) were tested and the SA matrix was found to give the best results in number of peaks, resolution, and signal-to-noise ratio. Deposition of bioaerosol particles onto the matrix pre-coated target did not produce signal in the m/z region above 1000, but the signal could be recovered with the addition of a 1:1 (v/v) acetonitrile/water solvent. Addition of solvent by pipette to the pre-coated targets after particle deposition recovered signal comparable to the dried-droplet sample preparations, whereas solvent sprayed into the impactor recovered fewer peaks. Deposition on pre-coated targets with post-collection solvent addition was superior to deposition on bare target followed by post-collection addition of matrix solution.     

毛细管胶束电动色谱法测定血管紧张素转化酶的活性

 建立了应用毛细管胶束电动色谱 (MECC)灵敏、快速的测定血管紧张素转化酶 (ACE)活性的方法。通过对电压、上样时间、电极缓冲液体系等影响因素的优化 ,探讨了方法的可行性 ,确立了最佳测定条件 (电压 :8 1kV ;上样时间 :1s;电极缓冲液 :2 0mmol/L硼酸盐缓冲液 (pH 9 0 ,含 5 0mmol/LSDS) ;检测波长 :2 2 8nm)。方法的最低ACE活性检测限为 5pmol/min(以 2倍的信噪比计 )。     

On‐Demand Ambient Ionization of Picoliter Samples Using Charge Pulses

Relay electrospray ionization (rESI) from a capillary containing a sample solution (or from an array of such capillaries) is triggered by charge deposition onto the capillary. Suitable sources of primary ions, besides electrosprays, are plasma ion and piezoelectric discharge plasma sources. With no requirement for physical contact, high‐throughput sample screening is enabled by rapidly addressing individual secondary (sample) capillaries. Sub‐pL sample volumes can be loaded and sprayed. Polar analytes, including neurotransmitters, phosphopeptides, oligonucleotides, illicit drugs, and pharmaceutical compounds are successfully ionized by rESI with concentration sensitivities (0.1 ppb for acetylcholine) which are similar to nanoESI but absolute sensitivities are orders of magnitude better. Nonpolar analytes (steroids, alkynes) are ionized by rESI using an open‐tube secondary capillary and injecting electrolytically generated metal cations from the primary electrospray.     

Direct sample fraction deposition using electrospray in narrow-bore size-exclusion chromatography/matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry for polymer characterization

A direct sample fraction deposition method was developed for off-line size-exclusion chromatography (SEC)/matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) time-of-flight mass spectrometry. By using electrospray, the SEC eluent, together with a suitable matrix solution added coaxially, was directly deposited on the MALDI plate. Owing to the formation of very small droplets in electrospray, solvent evaporation is much faster. The fractionation volume in narrow-bore SEC, which can directly be collected in one MALDI spot, can easily be optimized in the range of a few microlitres. In addition, fairly homogeneous sample spots were obtained. The possible influence of composition variation of the SEC effluent on the analytical results using direct fraction deposition was investigated; no substantial effects were observed. The applicability of the method was demonstrated by characterizing a broad poly(methyl methacrylate) sample. Copyright 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Nanoliter deposition unit for pipetting droplets of small volumes for Total Reflection X-ray Fluorescence applications

A nanoliter droplet deposition unit was developed and characterized for application of sample preparation in TXRF. The droplets produced on quartz reflectors as well as on wafers show a good reproducibility, also the accuracy of the pipetted volume could be proved by a quantitative TXRF analysis using an external standard. The samples were found to be independent of rotation of the sample carrier. Angle scans showed droplet residue behavior, and the fluorescence signal is relatively invariant of the angle of incidence below the critical angle, which is useful for producing standards for external calibration for semiconductor surface contamination measurements by TXRF. Further it could be demonstrated that the nanoliter deposition unit is perfectly able to produce patterns of samples for applications like the quantification of aerosols collected by impactors.     

寡糖的毛细管电泳分析

多种寡糖经α－萘胺衍生化后，用硼砂作为电泳介质，实现了高效毛细管电泳分离。比较了毛细管区带电泳和胶束毛细管电动色谱分离寡糖α－萘胺衍生物的电泳行为，对影响分离度的诸因素进行了考察，选择了最佳分离条件。     

Capillary isoelectric focusing hyphenated to single- and multistage matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-mass spectrometry using automated sheath-flow-assisted sample deposition

In this paper CIEF combined with MALDI-MS is described using a sheath-liquid-assisted automatic sample deposition from the separation capillary onto a MALDI target. Sample/matrix preparation techniques on the target resembling the dried droplet and the thin layer methods were evaluated in the context of the automatic spotting. Volatile buffers were used as IEF catholyte solutions. Test samples consisting of tryptic peptides, glycopeptides, and phosphopeptides of well-known proteins showed that CIEF-MALDI-MS can be used as effective preseparation method prior to MS, allowing to obtain the amino acid sequence coverage of proteins similar to that achieved with CZE-MALDI-MS and CZE-ESI-MS. Particularly, completeness and reliability of glycopeptide analysis is much enhanced by the preseparation. The effect is less pronounced but still significantly found with phosphopeptides present in the test protein. Finally, a test sample of five standard proteins demonstrates the suitability of this technique also for the treatment of intact proteins. This technique has potential to emerge as a faster method analogous and complementary to 2-DE and to IPG-IEF-MALDI-MS demonstrated before by the group of Loo [1].     

Capillary electrophoresis using a surfactant-treated capillary coupled with offline matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry for high efficiency and sensitivity detection of proteins.

A method of combining capillary electrophoresis (CE) using a surfactant-modified capillary with matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry (MS) is described for protein analysis. The CE-MALDI-MS coupling is based on CE fraction collection of nanoliter volume samples in less than 5 microl of dilute acid. This offline coupling does not require any special instrumentation and can be readily performed with commercial instruments. Protein adsorption during CE separation is prevented by coating the capillary with the surfactant didodecyldimethylammonium bromide. This surfactant binds strongly with the capillary wall, hence it does not desorb significantly to interfere with subsequent MALDI-MS analysis. It is shown that the use of a dilute acid for CE fraction collection is advantageous in lowering the detection limit of MALDI-MS compared to using an electrophoretic buffer. The detection limit for proteins such as cytochrome c is 23 fmol injected for CE, or 1.2 fmol spotted for MALDI-MS. This sensitivity is comparable to alternative CE-MALDI-MS coupling techniques using direct CE sample deposition on the MALDI target. In addition, the fraction collection approach has the advantage of allowing multiple reactions to be carried out on the fractioned sample. These reactions are very important in protein identification and structure analysis.     

Determination of shikimate in crude plant extracts by micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography

A method based on micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography (MECC) has been developed for the determination of shikimate in water and crude plant extracts. The analytes are separated in a cholate-taurine buffer by MECC at pH 7.3 and measured by direct UV detection at 206 nm. Shikimate showed linearity up to 12.5 mM, with a squared correlation coefficient (r(2)) of 0.9997. The method has concentration limit of detection (cLOD) and concentration limit of quantification (cLOQ) at 24.4 and 67.8 microM, respectively, corresponding to detection in the femtomol range. The number of theoretical plates (N) was estimated to 245,000 for the optimized system using a capillary with an effective length of 560 mm. The method was tested on plant samples by measuring the shikimate content in leaves of rapeseed plants grown in hydroponic solutions containing the herbicide glyphosate, a well-known inhibitor of the shikimate pathway. In crude extracts of these plants, shikimate was found to accumulate in the leaves, confirming earlier reports of shikimate as a potential biomarker for glyphosate treatment. The method now developed was also able to detect shikimate-3-phosphate, but this compound was not accumulated in glyphosate inhibited plants as found for shikimate.     

Separation of flavonol-2-O-glycosides from Calendula officinalis and Sambucus nigra by high-performance liquid and micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography.

Calendula officinalis and Sambucus nigra flowers were analysed by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) and micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography (MECC). RP-HPLC was performed on C8 Aquapore RP 300 columns with eluents containing 2-propanol and tetrahydrofuran. MECC was carried out on a 72-cm fused-silica capillary using sodium dodecyl sulphate and sodium borate (pH 8.3) as the running buffer. The results obtained by these techniques are compared.     

Determination of heterocyclic compounds by micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography

Micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography (MECC) based on sodium cholate (NaCh) and sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) was developed for the determination of aromatic amino acids and heterocyclic legume constituents. The influence of temperature, voltage, micellar system, pH, zwitterion and modifier concentrations in the buffer on migration times, peak areas, resolution and number of theoretical plates was investigated. This MECC method makes possible the sensitive determination of the individual compounds with detection limits in the picomole range. Up to 300 000 theoretical plates per metre of capillary were obtained together with satisfactory linearity and repeatability of the NaCh method. The applicability of MECC to samples prepared from plant material, following a fast and simple technique of isolation, purification and group separation, is illustrated by selected examples.     

Sublimation as a method of matrix application for mass spectrometric imaging

Common organic matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) matrices, 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid, 3,5-dimethoxy-4-hydroxycinnamic acid, and alpha-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamic acid, were found to undergo sublimation without decomposition under conditions of reduced pressure and elevated temperature. This solid to vapor-phase transition was exploited to apply MALDI matrix onto tissue samples over a broad surface in a solvent-free application for mass spectrometric imaging. Sublimation of matrix produced an even layer of small crystals across the sample plate. The deposition was readily controlled with time, temperature, and pressure settings and was highly reproducible from one sample to the next. Mass spectrometric images acquired from phospholipid standards robotically spotted onto a MALDI plate yielded a more intense, even signal with fewer sodium adducts when matrix was applied by sublimation relative to samples where matrix was deposited by an electrospray technique. MALDI matrix could be readily applied to tissue sections on glass slides and stainless steel MALDI plate inserts as long as good thermal contact was made with the condenser of the sublimation device. Sections of mouse brain were coated with matrix applied by sublimation and were imaged using a Q-q-TOF mass spectrometer to yield mass spectral images of very high quality. Image quality is likely enhanced by several features of this technique including the microcrystalline morphology of the deposited matrix, increased purity of deposited matrix, and evenness of deposition. This inexpensive method was reproducible and eliminated the potential for spreading of analytes arising from solvent deposition during matrix application.