Kp. Bateman et al., EVALUATION OF ADSORPTION PRECONCENTRATION CAPILLARY-ZONE-ELECTROPHORESIS NANOELECTROSPRAY MASS-SPECTROMETRY FOR PEPTIDE AND GLYCOPROTEIN ANALYSES, Journal of mass spectrometry, 33(11), 1998, pp. 1109-1123
The use of an on-line adsorption preconcentrator coupled with capillar
y zone electrophoresis/nanoelectrospray mass spectrometry (PC/CZE/nESM
S) is described for the analysis of peptides and protein digests. The
investigation was focused on the production of disposable preconcentra
tors made of large particle size (40 mu m irregular packing), thereby
eliminating the use of a retaining frit without loss of performance. T
hese preconcentration devices were made of commercially available comp
onents which can be easily interfaced to current CZE/nESMS systems, Pr
actical issues such as the composition of the stationary phase, the el
ution volume and sample breakthrough and carry-over were evaluated in
order to optimize the analytical performance of this technique, Under
optimized elution conditions, the PC/CZE/nESMS technique provided sepa
ration efficiencies in excess of 100 000 theoretical plates for a samp
le loading of 8 mu l. Sample carry-over was minimized by proper recond
itioning of the preconcentrator prior to the CZE separation, Alternati
vely, the sample carry-over resulting from small elution volumes could
be used advantageously to provide multiple analyses from a single inj
ection of sample. The application of this technique is demonstrated fo
r the analysis of proteolytic peptides from a Bauhinia purpurea lectin
at a concentration level of 30 nM, Further structural information was
obtained using on-line tandem mass spectrometry to elucidate the stru
cture of N-linked glycans and the amino acid sequences of the glycopep
tides. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.