Sensitive and High Resolution CE/MS/MS for Protein Identification in Complex Mixtures

Abstract

Capillary electrophoresis (CE) as a highresolution separation technique emerged from the pioneering work of Hjertén [1]. It took more than a decade to develop the modern version of capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) [2, 3]. The high surface-to-volume ratio of capillaries allows for efficient dissipation of Joule heat generated from the high electric field applied. As a result, separations are much faster and of higher resolution than those of slab gel electrophoresis. Separations are created by the electrophoretic mobility of the analyte in the presence of electroosmotic flow (EOF). The flow profile of analyte in CE is flat instead of parabolic as in a pressure driven system like HPLC. This endows CE with high separation efficiency (high number of theoretical plates). In addition, the low sample consumption associated with the narrow bore capillary in CE (a few nL) makes its absolute sensitivity extremely high. All these features make CE a very attractive separation tool for the analysis of proteins and peptides [4, 5].KeywordsCollision Induce DissociationCapillary Zone ElectrophoresisElectroosmotic FlowChromatographia SupplementTrimethylammonium ChlorideThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.