High-resolution Peptide Separation Research Articles

Isolation Window Optimization of Data-Independent Acquisition Using Predicted Libraries for Deep and Accurate Proteome Profiling.

In silico spectral library prediction of all possible peptides from whole organisms has a great potential for improving proteome profiling by data-independent acquisition (DIA) and extending its scope of application. In combination with other recent improvements in the field of mass spectrometry (MS)-based proteomics, including sample preparation, peptide separation, and data analysis, we aimed to uncover the full potential of such an advanced DIA strategy by optimization of the data acquisition. The results demonstrate that the combination of high-quality in silico libraries, reproducible and high-resolution peptide separation using micropillar array columns, as well as neural network supported data analysis enables the use of long MS scan cycles without impairing the quantification performance. The study demonstrates that mean coefficient of variations of 4% were obtained even at only 1.5 data points per peak (full width at half-maximum) across different gradient lengths, which in turn improved proteome coverage up to more than 8000 proteins from HeLa cells using empirically corrected libraries and more than 7000 proteins using a whole human in silico predicted library. These data were obtained using a Q Exactive orbitrap mass spectrometer with moderate scanning speed (12 Hz) and perform very well in comparison to recent studies using more advanced MS instruments, which underline the high potential of this optimization strategy for various applications in clinical proteomics, microbiology, and molecular biology.

Hydrophilic Strong Anion Exchange (hSAX) Chromatography Enables Deep Fractionation of Tissue Proteomes.

The bottom-up proteomic analysis of cell line and tissue samples to a depth > 10,000 proteins still represents a considerable challenge because of the sheer number of peptides generated by proteolytic digestions and the high dynamic range of protein expression. As a result, comprehensive protein coverage requires multidimensional peptide separation. Recently, off-line hydrophilic strong cation exchange (hSAX) chromatography has proven its merits for high resolution separation of peptides due to its high degree of orthogonality to reversed-phase liquid chromatography. Here we describe the use of hSAX for the deep analysis of tissue proteomes. The protocol includes optimized sample preparation steps (lysis with the aid of mechanical disruption, one-step disulfide bridge reduction and alkylation), setup and operation of hSAX columns and gradients, desalting of hSAX fractions prior to LC-MS/MS analysis, and suggestions for the choice of data acquisition parameters and data analysis using MaxQuant. Application of the protocol to the fractionation of 300 μg human brain tissue digest led to the identification of more than 100,000 unique peptide sequences representing over 10,195 proteins and 9,500 genes in 3 days of measurement time on a Q Exactive Plus mass spectrometer.

1.9 μm superficially porous packing material with radially oriented pores and tailored pore size for ultra-fast separation of small molecules and biomolecules

In this work, 1.9μm reversed-phase packing materials with superficially porous structure were prepared to achieve the rapid and high efficient separation of peptides and proteins. The silica particles were synthesized via three steps, nonporous silica particle preparation by a modified seeded growth method, mesoporous shell formation by a one pot templated dissolution and redeposition strategy, and pore size expansion via acid-refluxing. By such a method, 1.9μm superficially porous materials with 0.18μm shell thickness and tailored pore diameter (10nm, 15nm) were obtained. After pore enlargement, the formerly dense arrays of mesoporous structure changed, the radially oriented pores dominated the superficially porous structure. The chromatographic performance of such particles was investigated after C18 derivatization. For packing materials with 1.9μm diameter and 10nm pore size, the column efficiency could reach 211,300 plates per m for naphthalene. To achieve the high resolution separation of peptides and proteins, particles with pore diameter of 15nm were tailored, by which the baseline separation of 5 peptides and 5 intact proteins could be respectively achieved within 1min, demonstrating the superiority in the high efficiency and high throughput analysis of biomolecules. Furthermore, BSA digests were well separated with peak capacity of 120 in 30min on a 15cm-long column. Finally, we compared our columns with a 1.7μm Kinetex C18 column under the same conditions, our particles with 10nm pore size demonstrated similar performance for separation of the large intact proteins. Moreover, the particles with 15nm pore size showed more symmetrical peaks for the separation of large proteins (BSA, OVA and IgG) and provided rapid separation of protein extracts from Escherichia coli in 5min. All these results indicated that the synthesized 1.9μm superficially porous silica packing materials would be promising in the ultra-fast and high-resolution separation of biomolecules.

GOAT--a simple LC-MS/MS gradient optimization tool.

Modern nano-HPLC systems are capable of extremely precise control of solvent gradients, allowing high-resolution separation of peptides. Most proteomics laboratories use a simple linear analytical gradient for nano-LC-MS/MS experiments, though recent evidence indicates that optimized non-linear gradients result in increased peptide and protein identifications from cell lysates. In concurrent work, we examined non-linear gradients for the analysis of samples fractionated at the peptide level, where the distribution of peptide retention times often varies by fraction. We hypothesized that greater coverage of these samples could be achieved using per-fraction optimized gradients. We demonstrate that the optimized gradients improve the distribution of peptides throughout the analysis. Using previous generation MS instrumentation, a considerable gain in peptide and protein identifications can be realized. With current MS platforms that have faster electronics and achieve shorter duty cycle, the improvement in identifications is smaller. Our gradient optimization method has been implemented in a simple graphical tool (GOAT) that is MS-vendor independent, does not require peptide ID input, and is freely available for non-commercial use at http://proteomics.swmed.edu/goat

Peptide Separations by On-Line MudPIT Compared to Isoelectric Focusing in an Off-Gel Format: Application to a Membrane-Enriched Fraction from C2C12 Mouse Skeletal Muscle Cells

High-resolution peptide separation is pivotal for successful shotgun proteomics. The need for capable techniques propels invention and improvement of ever more sophisticated approaches. Recently, Agilent Technologies has introduced the OFFGEL fractionator, which conducts peptide separation by isoelectric focusing in an off-gel setup. This platform has been shown to accomplish high resolution of peptides for diverse sample types, yielding valuable advantages over comparable separation techniques. In this study, we deliver the first comparison of the newly emerging OFFGEL approach to the well-established on-line MudPIT platform. Samples from a membrane-enriched fraction isolated from murine C2C12 cells were subjected to replicate analysis by OFFGEL (12 fractions, pH 3-10) followed by RP-LC-MS/MS or 12-step on-line MudPIT. OFFGEL analyses yielded 1398 proteins (identified by 10,269 peptides), while 1428 proteins (11,078 peptides) were detected with the MudPIT approach. Thus, our data shows that both platforms produce highly comparable results in terms of protein/peptide identifications and reproducibility for the sample type analyzed. We achieve more accurate peptide focusing after OFFGEL fractionation with 88% of all peptides binned to a single fraction, as compared to 61% of peptides detected in only one step in MudPIT analyses. Our study suggests that both platforms are equally capable of high quality peptide separation of a sample with medium complexity, rendering them comparably valuable for comprehensive proteomic analyses.

Toward high sequence coverage of proteins in human breast cancer cells using on‐line monolith‐based HPLC‐ESI‐TOF MS compared to CE MS

A method is developed toward high sequence coverage of proteins isolated from human breast cancer MCF10 cell lines using a 2-D liquid separations. Monolithic-capillary columns prepared by copolymerizing styrene with divinylbenzene are used to achieve high-resolution separation of peptides from protein digests. This separation is performed with minimal sample preparation directly from the 2-D liquid fractionation of the cell lysate. The monolithic column separation is directly interfaced to ESI-TOF MS to obtain a peptide map. The protein digests were also analyzed by MALDI-TOF MS and an accurate M(r) of the intact protein was obtained using an HPLC-ESI-TOF MS. The result is that these techniques provide complementary information where nearly complete sequence coverage of the protein is obtained and can be compared to the experimental M(r) value. The high sequence coverage provides information on isoforms and other post-translational modifications that would not be available from methods that result in low sequence coverage. The results from the use of monolithic columns are compared to that obtained by CE-MS. The monolithic column separations provide a rugged and highly reproducible method for separating protein digests prior to MS analysis and is suited to confidently identify biomarkers associated with cancer progression.

Comparative Study of [Three] LC−MALDI Workflows for the Analysis of Complex Proteomic Samples

Large-scale proteomic analyses frequently rely on high-resolution peptide separation of digested protein mixtures in multiple dimensions to achieve accuracy in sample detection and sensitivity in dynamic range of coverage. This study was undertaken to demonstrate the feasibility of MALDI MS/MS with off-line coupling to HPLC for the analysis of whole cell lysates of wild-type yeast by three different workflows: SCX-RPHPLC-MS/MS, high-pH SAX-RPHPLC-MS/MS and RP (protein)-SCX-RPHPLC-MS/MS. The purpose of these experiments was to demonstrate the effect of a workflow on the end results in terms of the number of proteins detected, the average peptide coverage of proteins, and the number of redundant peptide sequencing attempts. Using 60 microg of yeast lysate, minor differences were seen in the number of proteins detected by each method (800-1200). The most significant differences were observed in redundancy of MS/MS acquisitions.

High-performance liquid chromatographic and field desorption mass spectrometric measurement of picomole amounts of endogenous neuropeptides in biologic tissue

A unique combination of chromatographic separation and mass spectrometric techniques has been developed for a novel method for measurement of picomole amounts of endogenous oligopeptides in biologic tissue. High-performance liquid chromatography is utilized for rapid high-resolution separation of peptides. A new buffer system using dilute triethylamine-formic acid is utilized. The buffer system possesses excellent UV transparent properties enabling femtomole sensitivity for measurement of standard solutions of somatostatin. Use of porous polystyrenedivinylbenzene copolymer and octadecylsilyl columns facilitate retention of a peptide fraction from biologic extracts. Advantage was taken of field desorption mass spectrometric methods of eliminate chemical derivatization of peptides and to produce