Micro-Electrospray: Zeptomole/attomole per microliter sensitivity for peptides

The micro-electrospray ionization source has been optimized for the specific analysis of neuropeptides such as neurotensin and methionine enkephalin. The source has the option of integrating nanoliter flow-rate desalting and preconcentration techniques into the micro-electrospray spray needle, eliminating post-column dead volumes. For neurotensin, the most sensitive neuropeptide analyzed thus far in this work, the injection of 10 μL of a solution containing 320 zeptomolesy/gmL gave an [M + 3H]⁺³ ion at m/z 558.4 with S/N of > 8∶1. The MS/MS analysis of this peptide for the fragment ion at m/z 578.9 gave a S/N > 20∶1 for a solution containing 32 attomoles/μL.