Nanospray mass spectrometry for identification of peptides. Application ofa novel interface

Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry is a powerful tool for identifica tion of biomolecules such as peptides, proteins, oligosaccharides and neuro transmitters, Recent development of the nanospray techniques, applied at ul tralow flow-rates, allowed a sensitive analysis of compounds at femto/attom olar level. Here, we present application of a novel nanospray device for th e analysis and fragmentation of peptides with high sensitivity on a sector instrument. The lowest applied flow-rate of the mobile phase was maintained at 50 nl/min with a sample load of 90 fmol. Nanospray also provided a comp lete analysis of 500 nl of the sample for over 10 min, including sequencing of as little as 40 pmol of a substance. Such analysis provides full struct ural information necessary to identify the molecules.