A comparison of depletion versus equalization for reducing high-abundance proteins in human serum

In this work three methods to diminish the content of most highly abundant proteins in human serum have been studied and compared. Protein depletion with ACN or DTT and protein equalization with the ProteoMiner^? (PM) have been assessed by 1‐D gel electrophoresis and MS. After treatment 5, 18 and 9 major proteins within the 20 most abundant proteins in serum were identified for the ACN, DTT and PM methods, respectively. The ACN method was efficient for depleting high molecular weight proteins, over 75 KDa, resulting in 10±4% (n=3) of the total protein content remaining in the depleted serum. In addition, 75% of the proteins belonging to the group of the 20 most abundant proteins were not detected, making this depletion strategy a cheap alternative to expensive commercial tools regularly used for removing high abundance proteins from serum. The ACN extract was found rich in apolipoproteins. The dithithreitol method promotes the precipitation of proteins rich in disulfide bonds, mainly albumin, with 73±7% (n=3) of the total protein content remaining in the depleted serum, which was found rich in immunoglobulins. The PM method compresses the dynamic range of the serum proteins, rendering an extract containing 16±2% (n=3) of the total initial protein content. The extract was found to be rich in both apolipoproteins and immunoglobulins. As a general rule the DTT and PM methods provide a compression of the dynamic range of serum protein concentrations while the ACN method allows an effective depletion of the protein fraction above 72 KDa.     

Enrichment of low-abundant serum proteins by albumin/immunoglobulin G immunoaffinity depletion under partly denaturing conditions

We present a simple protocol for affinity depletion to remove the two most abundant serum proteins, albumin and immunoglobulin G (IgG). Under native conditions, albumin/IgG were efficiently removed and several proteins were enriched as shown by two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE). Besides that, partly denaturing conditions were established by adding 5 or 20% acetonitrile (ACN) in order to disrupt the binding of low-molecular-weight (LMW) proteins to the carrier proteins albumin/IgG. 2-DE results showed that the total number of detected LMW proteins increased under denaturing conditions when compared to native conditions. Interestingly, the presence of 5% ACN in serum revealed better enrichment of LMW proteins when compared to 20% ACN condition. Seven randomly distributed spots in albumin/IgG depleted serum samples under 5% ACN condition were picked from the 2-DE gels and identified by mass spectrometry (MS). The intensity of five LMW protein spots increased under denaturing conditions when compared to native conditions. Three of the seven identified spots (serum amyloid P, vitamin D-binding protein, and transthyretin) belong to a group of relatively low-abundant proteins, which make up only 1% of all serum proteins. The method presented here improves the resolution of the serum proteome by increasing the number of visualized spots on 2-D gels and allowing the detection and MS identification of LMW proteins and proteins of lower abundance.     

Negative ion graphitised carbon nano-liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry increases sensitivity for glycoprotein oligosaccharide analysis

Negative ion nano-liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (nano-LC/MS) and tandem mass spectrometry (nano-LC/MS(2)), using graphitised carbon as separating medium, were explored for analysing neutral and acidic O-linked and N-linked oligosaccharide alditols. Compared to the sensitivity of capillary LC/MS (flow rate of 6 microL/min) coupled with a conventional electrospray ionisation source, the nano-LC/MS (flow rate of 0.6 microL/min) with a nanoflow ion source was shown to increase the sensitivity ten-fold with a detection limit in the low-femtomole range. The absolute signals for the [M-nH](n-) ions of the oligosaccharides were increased 100-fold, enabling accumulation of high-quality fragmentation data in MS(2) mode, in which detection of low abundant sequence ions is necessary for characterisation of highly sialylated N-linked oligosaccharides. Oligosaccharides with high numbers of sialic acid residues gave dominant fragments arising from the loss of sialic acid, and less abundant fragments from cleavage of other glycosidic bonds. Enzymatic off-line desialylation of oligosaccharides in the low-femtomole range prior to MS(2) analysis was shown to increase the quality of the spectra. Automated glycofragment mass fingerprinting using the GlycosidIQ software confirmed the oligosaccharide sequence for both neutral desialylated as well as sialylated structures. Furthermore, the use of graphitised carbon nano-LC/MS enabled the detection of four sialylated O-linked oligosaccharides on membrane proteins from ovarian tissue (5 microg of total amount of protein).     

An investigation into the human serum "interactome"

The protein content of human serum is composed of a millieu of proteins from almost every type of cell and tissue within the body. The serum proteome has been shown to contain information that directly reflects pathophysiological states and represents an invaluable source of diagnostic information for a variety of different diseases. Unfortunately, the dynamic range of protein abundance, ranging from > mg/mL level to < pg/mL level, renders complete characterization of this proteome nearly impossible with current analytical methods. To study low-abundance proteins, which have potential value for clinical diagnosis, the high-abundant species, such as immunoglobulins and albumin, are generally eliminated as the first step in many analytical protocols. This step, however, is hypothesized to concomitantly remove proteins/peptides associated with the high-abundant proteins targeted for depletion. In this study, immunoprecipitation was combined with microcapillary reversed-phase liquid chromatography (microRPLC) coupled on-line with tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) to investigate the low-molecular-weight proteins/peptides that associate with the most abundant species in serum. By this targeted isolation of select highly abundant serum proteins, the associated proteins/peptides can be enriched and effectively identified by microRPLC-MS/MS. Among the 210 proteins identified, 73% and 67% were not found in previous studies of the low-molecular-weight or whole-serum proteome, respectively.     

Unmasking low-abundance peptides from human blood plasma and serum samples by a simple and robust two-step precipitation/immunoaffinity enrichment method

Proteomic analysis of human plasma and serum for identifying and validating disease-specific marker proteins and peptides has one major drawback besides its unique advantage as a readily available sample source for diagnostic assays. This disadvantage is represented by the predominance of several high- and middle-abundant proteins, which clearly hamper identification and quantification approaches of potential and validated protein and peptide biomarkers, which are often of very low abundance. During the last decades, a significant number of depletion and enrichment techniques evolved to address these two issues. We present here a cost-effective and easy-to-use strategy for protein depletion comprising a thermal precipitation protocol followed by a two-step liquid/liquid precipitation as well as using an immunoaffinity chromatography method for the specific enrichment and isolation of the low-abundance polypeptide N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide and its precursor proBNP clinically used as biomarkers for the detection of severe human heart failure and related diseases. The applicability of this approach is shown by SDS -CGE, SDS-PAGE, electrochemiluminescence immunoassay and nano-LC ESI-MS/MS. Our thermal precipitation protocol followed by a two-step liquid/liquid precipitation could also serve as a potential depletion technique for the characterization of other low-abundance peptides and proteins.     

Proteomic analysis of rat plasma by two-dimensional liquid chromatography and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry

The proteomic analysis of plasma and serum samples represents a formidable challenge due to the presence of a few highly abundant proteins such as albumin and immunoglobulins. Detection of low abundance protein biomarkers therefore requires either the specific depletion of high abundance proteins using immunoaffinity columns and/or optimized protein fractionation methods based on charge, size or hydrophobicity. Here we describe a two-dimensional (2D) liquid chromatography separation method for the fractionation of rat plasma. In the first dimension proteins were separated by chromatofocusing according to their isoelectric point (pI). In the second dimension, proteins were further fractionated by non-porous, reversed-phase chromatography according to their hydrophobicity. The data from both separations was displayed as a 2D protein expression map of pI versus retention time (relative hydrophobicity). Both separations were carried out on the ProteomeLab PF 2D system (Beckman Coulter), an instrument platform that provides a high degree of automation and real-time monitoring of the separation process. The reproducibility of the first-dimension separation was evaluated in terms of pH gradient formation. The second-dimension separation was evaluated in terms of peak retention times on the reversed-phase column. We found in four consecutive chromatofocusing separations that the pH gradient differed by less than 0.2 pH units at any time during the elution step. Second dimension retention times of peaks from identical pI fractions differed by less than 7 s in six consecutive separations. Each 2D separation generated a total of 540 fractions which were analyzed by matrix assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). We detected approximately 275 peptides and proteins with molecular masses ranging from 3 to 225 kDa. Most fractions were found to contain multiple low and high molecular weight proteins. Differential display of 2D protein expression maps from retinol-sufficient and -deficient rat plasma samples identified a fraction with several proteins that appeared to be down-regulated in the vitamin A-deficient animal. Quantitative proteomic analysis of complex samples such as plasma is still a difficult task. We discuss the potential of this approach for biomarker discovery and address the experimental challenges that remain.     

Spectral counting robust on high mass accuracy mass spectrometers

Mass spectrometry is central to shotgun proteomics, an application that seeks to quantify as much of the total protein complement of a biological sample as possible. The high mass accuracy, resolution, capacity and scan rate of modern mass spectrometers have greatly facilitated this endeavor. The sum of MS to MS/MS transitions in tandem mass spectrometry, the spectral count (SC), of a peptide has been shown to be a reliable estimate of its relative abundance. However, when using SCs, optimal MS configurations are crucial in order to maximize the number of low abundant proteins quantified while keeping the estimates for the highly abundant proteins within the linear dynamic range. In this study, LC/MS/MS analysis was performed using an LTQ‐OrbiTrap on a sample containing many highly abundant proteins. Tuning the LTQ‐OrbiTrap mass spectrometer to minimize redundant MS/MS acquisition and to maximize resolution of the proteome by accurately measured m/z ratios resulted in an appreciable increase in quantified low abundant proteins. An exclusion duration of 90 s and an exclusion width of 10 ppm were found best of those tested. The spectral count of individual proteins was found to be highly reproducible and protein abundance ratios were not affected by the different settings that were applied. We conclude that on a high mass accuracy instrument spectral counting is a robust measure of protein abundance even for samples containing many highly abundant proteins and that tuning dynamic exclusion parameters appreciably improves the number of proteins that can be reliably quantified. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Phosphopeptide quantitation using amine-reactive isobaric tagging reagents and tandem mass spectrometry: application to proteins isolated by gel electrophoresis

Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis is widely used for protein separation and it is frequently the final step in protein purification in biochemistry and proteomics. Using a commercially available amine-reactive isobaric tagging reagent (iTRAQ) and mass spectrometry we obtained reproducible, quantitative data from peptides derived by tryptic in-gel digestion of proteins and phosphoproteins. The protocol combines optimized reaction conditions, miniaturized peptide handling techniques and tandem mass spectrometry to quantify low- to sub-picomole amounts of (phospho)proteins that were isolated by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Immobilized metal affinity chromatography (FeIII-IMAC) was efficient for removal of excess reagents and for enrichment of derivatized phosphopeptides prior to matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) analysis. Phosphopeptide abundance was determined by liquid chromatography/tandem mass (LC/MS/MS) using either MALDI time-of-flight/time-of-flight (TOF/TOF) MS/MS or electrospray ionization quadrupole time-of-flight (ESI-QTOF) MS/MS instruments. Chemically labeled isobaric phosphopeptides, differing only by the position of the phosphate group, were distinguished and characterized by LC/MS/MS based on their LC elution profile and distinct MS/MS spectra. We expect this quantitative mass spectrometry method to be suitable for systematic, comparative analysis of molecular variants of proteins isolated by gel electrophoresis.     

Improved disc SDS‐PAGE for extraction of low molecular weight proteins from serum

The low molecular weight proteins can provide a lot of valuable information of biomarkers. To study these proteins, the high abundance and high molecular weight proteins must be removed prior to analysis. In this work, a simple and inexpensive disc SDS‐PAGE to extract low molecular weight proteins from human serum and cutoff proteins larger than 30 kDa was developed. Some experimental conditions were examined. The experimental results obtained by plate SDS‐PAGE and MALDI‐TOF MS showed that the molecular weight of extracted proteins was about in the range from 0.3 to 28 kDa. Some experiments, including precipitation of proteins in organic solvents, SPE and cytochrome C test, were carried out and the experimental results demonstrated successful recovery of proteins/peptides with molecular weight from several hundreds of dalton to about 30 kDa. The experimental results obtained by plate SDS‐PAGE indicated the repeatability was satisfactory.     

Extensive fractionation and identification of proteins within nasal lavage fluids from allergic rhinitis and asthmatic chronic rhinosinusitis patients

Allergic rhinitis (AR), chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS), and asthma are prevalent airway diseases that can have a substantial impact on a patient's quality of life. MS analyses of biological fluids can effectively screen for proteins associated with disease processes, however, initial detection of diagnostic proteins is difficult due to protein complexity and dynamic range. To enhance the detection of lower abundance proteins, intact nasal lavage fluid (NLF) proteins from nonpolypoid AR and from asthmatic CRS patients were extensively fractionated prior to LC/MS/MS analysis. Pooled NLF samples were processed to remove low molecular weight molecules and high abundance plasma proteins. Anion exchange (AX) chromatography followed by RP‐LC further separated the remaining intact NLF proteins. The resulting fractions were digested with trypsin and the peptides analyzed by LC/MS/MS. Spectra were searched with MASCOT, SEQUEST, and X!Tandem to obtain peptide identifications and subsequently analyzed by Scaffold software to identify parent proteins with at least 99% confidence. The 197 identified proteins are compared to those previously cited in the literature and the workflow evaluated to determine the usefulness for the detection of lower abundance proteins. This is the first extensive list of NLF proteins generated from CRS patients with coexisting asthma.     

High‐throughput ultra‐high‐performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry quantitation of insulin‐like growth factor‐I and leucine‐rich α‐2‐glycoprotein in serum as biomarkers of recombinant human growth hormone administration

Insulin‐like growth factor‐I (IGF‐I) is a known biomarker of recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) abuse, and is also used clinically to confirm acromegaly. The protein leucine‐rich α‐2‐glycoprotein (LRG) was recently identified as a putative biomarker of rhGH administration. The combination of an ACN depletion method and a 5‐min ultra‐high‐performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (uHPLC/MS/MS)‐based selected reaction monitoring (SRM) assay detected both IGF‐I and LRG at endogenous concentrations. Four eight‐point standard addition curves of IGF‐I (16–2000 ng/mL) demonstrated good linearity (r² = 0.9991 and coefficients of variance (CVs) <13%). Serum samples from two rhGH administrations were extracted and their uHPLC/MS/MS‐derived IGF‐I concentrations correlated well against immunochemistry‐derived values. Combining IGF‐I and LRG data improved the separation of treated and placebo states compared with IGF‐I alone, further strengthening the hypothesis that LRG is a biomarker of rhGH administration. Artificial neural networks (ANNs) analysis of the LRG and IGF‐I data demonstrated an improved model over that developed using IGF‐I alone, with a predictive accuracy of 97%, specificity of 96% and sensitivity of 100%. Receiver operator characteristic (ROC) analysis gave an AUC value of 0.98. This study demonstrates the first large scale and high throughput uHPLC/MS/MS‐based quantitation of a medium abundance protein (IGF‐I) in human serum. Furthermore, the data we have presented for the quantitative analysis of IGF‐I suggest that, in this case, monitoring a single SRM transition to a trypsin peptide surrogate is a valid approach to protein quantitation by LC/MS/MS. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Characterization of apolipoprotein and apolipoprotein precursors in pancreatic cancer serum samples via two-dimensional liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry

Major advances in cancer control depend upon early detection, early diagnosis and efficacious treatment modalities. Current existing markers of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, generally incurable by available treatment modalities, are inadequate for early diagnosis or for distinguishing between pancreatic cancer and chronic pancreatitis. We have used a proteomic approach to identify proteins that are differentially expressed in sera from pancreatic cancer patients, as compared to control. Normal, chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer serum samples were depleted of high molecular weight proteins by acetonitrile precipitation. Each sample was separated by chromatofocusing, and then further resolved by reversed-phase (RP)-HPLC. Effluent from the RP-HPLC column was split into two streams with one directly interfaced to an electrospray time-of-flight (ESI-TOF) mass spectrometer for molecular weight (MW) determination of the intact proteins. The remainder went through a UV detector with the corresponding peaks collected with a fraction collector, subsequently used for MS/MS analysis. The ion intensities of proteins with the same MW obtained from ESI-TOF-MS analysis were compared, with the differentially expressed proteins determined. An 8915 Da protein was found to be up-regulated while a 9422 Da protein was down-regulated in the pancreatic cancer sera. Both proteins were identified by MS and MS/MS as proapolipoprotein C-II and apolipoprotein C-III(1), respectively. The MS/MS data of proapolipoprotein C-II was searched using "semi-trypsin" as the search enzyme, thus confirming that the protein at 8915 Da was proapolipoprotein C-II. In order to confirm the identity of the protein at 9422 Da, we initially identified a protein of 8765 Da with a similar mass spectral pattern. Based on MS and MS/MS, its intact molecular weight and "semi-trypsin" database search, the protein at 8765 Da was identified as apolipoprotein C-III(0). The MS and MS/MS data of the proteins at 8765 Da and 942 Da were similar, thus confirming the protein at 9422 Da as being apolipoprotein C-III(1). The detection of differentially expressed proapolipoprotein C-II and apolipoprotein C-III(1) in the sera of pancreatic cancer patients may have utility for detection of this deadly malignancy.     

Generating protein sequence tags by combining cone and conventional collision induced dissociation in a quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometer

The goal of proteomics research is to be able to identify and quantify the vast numbers of proteins within an organism or tissue. "Top-down" methods address this goal without the need for proteolytic digestion prior to mass analysis. We report here an approach for top-down protein identification that has been implemented on a commercially available, unmodified Qq-TOF mass spectrometer. Intact protein molecular ions first undergo cone fragmentation in the electrospray inlet. Conventional MS/MS is then performed on a mass selected cone fragment using CID in the Qq interface of the Qq-TOF mass spectrometer to generate a sequence tag through a pseudo-MS3 experiment. Seven proteins varying in molecular weight between 11 and 66 kDa were chosen to demonstrate applicability of method. After the molecular weight of the intact protein was determined, the cone voltage was varied to induce fragmentation. Cone fragment ions were then further dissociated using conventional CID, and the resulting MS/MS spectra were processed and analyzed for sequence tags. Sequence tags were easily identified from a MS/MS spectrum of a cone induced fragment ion both manually and through a de novo sequencing program included in the software associated with the mass spectrometer. Sequence tags were subjected to database searching using the PeptideSearch program of EMBL, and all protein sequence tags gave unambiguous search results. In all cases, sequence tags were found to originate from the n- and/or c-termini of the proteins.     

Identification of 2D-gel proteins: a comparison of MALDI/TOF peptide mass mapping to mu LC-ESI tandem mass spectrometry

A comparative analysis of protein identification for a total of 162 protein spots separated by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis from two fully sequenced archaea, Methanococcus jannaschii and Pyrococcus furiosus, using MALDI-TOF peptide mass mapping (PMM) and mu LC-MS/MS is presented. 100% of the gel spots analyzed were successfully matched to the predicted proteins in the two corresponding open reading frame databases by mu LC-MS/MS while 97% of them were identified by MALDI-TOF PMM. The high success rate from the PMM resulted from sample desalting/concentrating with ZipTip(C18) and optimization of several PMM search parameters including a 25 ppm average mass tolerance and the application of two different protein molecular weight search windows. By using this strategy, low-molecular weight (<23 kDa) proteins could be identified unambiguously with less than 5 peptide matches. Nine percent of spots were identified as containing multiple proteins. By using mu LC-MS/MS, 50% of the spots analyzed were identified as containing multiple proteins. mu LC-MS/MS demonstrated better protein sequence coverage than MALDI-TOF PMM over the entire mass range of proteins identified. MALDI-TOF and PMM produced unique peptide molecular weight matches that were not identified by mu LC-MS/MS. By incorporating amino acid sequence modifications into database searches, combined sequence coverage obtained from these two complimentary ionization methods exceeded 50% for approximately 70% of the 162 spots analyzed. This improved sequence coverage in combination with enzymatic digestions of different specificity is proposed as a method for analysis of post-translational modification from 2D-gel separated proteins.     

The effects of abundant plasma protein depletion on global glycan profiling using NanoLC FT-ICR mass spectrometry

We report the results of abundant plasma protein depletion on the analysis of underivatized N-linked glycans derived from plasma proteins by nanoLC Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry. N-linked glycan profiles were compared between plasma samples where the six most abundant plasma proteins were depleted (n = 3) through a solid-phase immunoaffinity column and undepleted plasma samples (n = 3). Three exogenous glycan standards were spiked into all samples which allowed for normalization of the N-glycan abundances. The abundances of 20 glycans varying in type, structure, composition, and molecular weight (1,200–3,700 Da) were compared between the two sets of samples. Small fucosylated non-sialylated complex glycans were found to decrease in abundance in the depleted samples (greater than or equal to tenfold) relative to the undepleted samples. Protein depletion was found to marginally effect (less than threefold) the abundance of high mannose, hybrid, and large highly sialylated complex species. The significance of these findings in terms of future biomarker discovery experiments via global glycan profiling is discussed.     

An integrated serum proteomic approach capable of monitoring the low molecular weight proteome with sequencing of intermediate to large peptides

The low‐abundance, low molecular weight serum proteome has high potential for the discovery of new biomarkers using mass spectrometry (MS). Because the serum proteome is large and complex, defining relative quantitative differences for a molecular species between comparison groups requires an approach with robust separation capability, high sensitivity, as well as high mass resolution. Capillary liquid chromatography (cLC)/MS provides both the necessary separation technique and the sensitivity to observe many low‐abundance peptides. Subsequent identification of potential serum peptide biomarkers observed in the cLC/MS step can in principle be accomplished by in series cLC/MS/MS without further sample preparation or additional instrumentation. In this report a novel cLC/MS/MS method for peptide sequencing is described that surpasses previously reported size limits for amino acid sequencing accomplished by collisional fragmentation using a tandem time‐of‐flight MS instrument. As a demonstration of the approach, two low‐abundance peptides with masses of ～4000–5000 Da were selected for MS/MS sequencing. The multi‐channel analyzer (MCA) was used in a novel way that allowed for summation of 120 fragmentation spectra for each of several customized collision energies, providing more thorough fragmentation coverage of each peptide with improved signal to noise. The peak list from this composite analysis was submitted to Mascot for identification. The two index peptides, 4279 Da and 5061 Da, were successfully identified. The peptides were a 39 amino acid immunoglobulin G heavy chain variable region fragment and a 47 amino acid fibrin alpha isoform C‐terminal fragment. The method described here provides the ability both to survey thousands of serum molecules and to couple that with markedly enhanced cLC/MS/MS peptide sequencing capabilities, providing a promising technique for serum biomarker discovery. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An exponential dilution gradient system for nanoscale liquid chromatography in combination with MALDI or Nano-ESI mass spectrometry for proteolytic digests

A simple and inexpensive nano high performance liquid chromatography system (nano-LC) employing the exponential dilution method for gradient separations was built. The system was used to analyze a tryptic digest of Escherichia coli uracil DNA glycosylase (Ung; Mr = 25,563), a DNA-binding protein that initiates the uracil-excision DNA repair process by catalyzing the release of uracil from the deoxyribose phosphate backbone of DNA. Both on-line and off-line approaches to analyzing peptides produced by in-gel digestion of Ung are demonstrated. The on-line approach uses nano-high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)/micro-electrospray MS to assign peptide masses. The off-line approach uses matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) and nano-electrospray/collision-induced dissociation (CID) tandem mass spectrometry, to analyze fractions (2-3 microL) collected manually from the nano-LC system. The nano-electrospray technique allows detailed fragmentation information to be obtained at different collision energies with only a marginal increase in sample handling due to the nano-LC step.     

Highly specific purification of N-glycans using phosphate-based derivatization as an affinity tag in combination with Ti-SPE enrichment for mass spectrometric analysis

N-linked protein glycosylation is involved in regulation of a wide variety of cellular processes and associated with numerous diseases. Highly specific identification of N-glycome remains a challenge while its biological significance is acknowledged. The relatively low abundance of glycan in complex biological mixtures, lack of basic sites for protonation, and suppression by other highly abundant proteins/peptides lead to the particularly poor detection sensitivity of N-glycans in the MS analysis. Therefore, the highly specific purification procedure becomes a crucial step prior to MS analysis of the N-glycome. Herein, a novel N-glycans enrichment approach based on phosphate derivatization combined with Ti⁴⁺-SPE (solid phase extraction) was developed. Briefly, in this strategy, N-glycans were chemically labeled with a phospho-group at their reducing ends, such that the Ti⁴⁺-SPE microspheres were able to capture the phospho-containing glycans. The enrichment method was developed and optimized using model oligosaccharides (maltoheptaose DP7 and sialylated glycan A1) and also glycans from a standard glycoprotein (asialofetuin, ASF). This method experimentally showed high derivatization efficiency (almost 100%), excellent selectivity (analyzing DP7 in the digests of bovine serum albumin at a mass ratio of 1:100), high enriching recovery (90%), good reproducibility (CV<15%) as well as high sensitivity (LOD at fmol level). At last, the proposed method was successfully applied in the profiling of N-glycome in human serum, in which a total of 31 N-glycan masses were identified.     

Diagnostic protein discovery using liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry for proteolytic peptide targeting

A peptide targeting method has been developed for diagnostic protein discovery, which combines proteolytic digestion of fractionated plasma proteins and liquid chromatography coupled to electrospray time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC/ESI-TOFMS) profiling. Proteolysis prior to profiling overcomes molecular weight limitations and compensates for the poor sensitivity of matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) protein profiling. LC/MS increases the peak capacity compared to crude fractionation techniques or single sample MALDI analysis. Differentially expressed peptides are targeted in the mass chromatograms using bioinformatic techniques and subsequently sequenced with MALDI tandem MS. In a model study comparing pancreatic cancer patients to controls, 74% of the peptide targets were successfully sequenced. This profiling method was superior to previous experiments using single sample MALDI analysis for protein profiling or proteolytic peptide profiling, because more potential protein markers were identified.     

Sample preparation of human serum for the analysis of tumor markers. Comparison of different approaches for albumin and gamma-globulin depletion

LC-MS is a powerful method for the sensitive detection of proteins and peptides in biological fluids. However, the presence of highly abundant proteins often masks those of lower abundance and thus generally prevents their detection and identification in proteomic studies. In human serum the most abundant proteins are albumin and gamma-globulins. We tested several approaches to specifically reduce the level of these proteins based on either specific antibodies, dye ligands (for albumin) and protein A or G (for gamma-globulins). The resulting, depleted serum was analyzed by sodium dodecylsulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and LC-MS for the residual presence of these abundant proteins as well as for other serum proteins that should remain after depletion. To test the applicability of this method to real-life samples, depleted serum of a cervical cancer patient was analyzed for the presence of a specific tumor marker protein SCCA1 (squamous cell carcinoma antigen 1; P29508), which is present at ng/ml concentrations. The results demonstrate that SCCA1 can be detected by LC-MS in patient serum following depletion of albumin and gamma-globulins thus opening the possibility of screening patient sera for other, so far unknown, tumor markers.