Analysis of stem cell lipids by offline HPTLC-MALDI-TOF MS

MALDI-TOF MS is traditionally used for “proteomics”, but is also a useful tool for lipid analysis. Depending on the applied matrix, however, some lipid classes are more sensitively detected than other ones and this may even lead to suppression effects if complex mixtures are analyzed. Therefore, a previous separation into the individual lipid classes is necessary. Using artificial lipid mixtures or easily available tissue extracts, it has been already shown that HPTLC-(High Performance Thin-Layer Chromatography)-separated lipids can be conveniently analyzed by MALDI-TOF MS directly on the TLC plate. Here we present an initial TLC-MALDI study of the lipid composition of ovine mesenchymal stem cells. Due to the complex composition of these cells, data are also compared to lipids extracted from human erythrocytes. It will be shown that even very minor lipid classes can be easily detected and with much higher sensitivity than by common staining protocols. Additionally, MS images of the developed TLC plates will be shown and potential applications, new methods of data analysis as well as problems discussed.

A direct and simple method of coupling matrix-assisted laser desorption and ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) to thin-layer chromatography (TLC) for the analysis of phospholipids from egg yolk

Although the most important application of matrix-assisted laser desorption and ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) is "proteomics," there is growing evidence that this soft ionization method is also useful for phospholipid (PL) analysis. Although all PLs are detectable by MALDI-TOF MS, some lipid classes, particularly those with quaternary amines such as phosphatidylcholines (PCs), are more sensitively detected than others, and these suppress the signals of less sensitively detected PLs when complex mixtures are analyzed. Therefore, a separation of the total organic extract into individual lipid classes is necessary. As MALDI uses a solid sample, the direct evaluation of thin-layer chromatography (TLC) plates is possible. We report here on a method of directly coupling MALDI-TOF MS and TLC that can be easily implemented on commercially available MALDI-TOF devices. A total extract of hen egg yolk is used as a simple PL mixture to demonstrate the capabilities of this method. It will be shown that "clean" spectra without any major contributions from fragmentation products and matrix peaks can be obtained, and that this approach is even sensitive enough to detect the presence of PLs at levels of less than 1% of the total extract.     

Capabilities and Disadvantages of Combined Matrix-Assisted Laser-Desorption/Ionization Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) and High-Performance Thin-Layer Chromatography (HPTLC): Analysis of Egg Yolk Lipids

JPC – Journal of Planar Chromatography – Modern TLC - Lipids are important natural products and essential in nutrition, cosmetic formulations, pharmaceuticals, etc. Lipids and,...     

Toward top-down determination of PEGylation site using MALDI in-source decay MS analysis

A novel matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI)-based mass spectrometric approach has been evaluated to rapidly analyze a custom designed PEGylated peptide that is 31 residues long and conjugated with 20 kDa linear polyethylene glycol (PEG) at the side chain of Lys. MALDI-TOF MS provided sufficiently high resolution to allow observation of each of the oligomers of the heterogeneous PEGylated peptide (m/Δm of ca. 500), while a typical ESI-MS spectrum of this molecule was extremely complex and unresolved. Reflector in-source decay (reISD) analysis using MALDI-TOF MS was attempted to identify the PEGylation site at intact molecular level without any sample treatment. An reISD spectrum of the free peptide was observed with abundant c-, y-, and [z + 2]-fragment ion series, whereas, in the fragmented PEGylated peptide, the fragment ion series were truncated at the residue where PEG was attached. Therefore, a direct comparison of these top-down reISD spectra suggested the location of the PEGylation site. Results from this study demonstrate a clear analytical utility of the ISD technique to characterize structural aspects of heterogeneous biomolecules.     

Phosphatidylcholines and -ethanolamines can be easily mistaken in phospholipid mixtures: a negative ion MALDI-TOF MS study with 9-aminoacridine as matrix and egg yolk as selected example

Phospholipids (PL) are increasingly analyzed by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry (MS). As in the case of polar molecules, however, the careful selection of the matrix is crucial for optimum results. 9-Aminoacridine (9-AA) was recently suggested as the matrix of choice to analyze PL mixtures because of (a) the improved sensitivity and (b) the reduction of suppression effects compared to other matrices. However, the distinction of phosphatidylcholine (PC) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) in the negative ion mode is obscured as PC is also detectable as –CH₃⁺ ion if 9-AA is used as matrix. This may result in the erroneous assignment of PC as a PE species. Using an organic extract from hen egg yolk as example it will be shown that the contribution of PC must be taken into consideration if the negative ion mass spectra are used to evaluate the fatty acyl compositions of PE mixtures. 9-AA can as well be used in hyphenated thin-layer chromatography (TLC)-MALDI-TOF MS where PC and PE are chromatographically well separated for unequivocal assignments.