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A high-throughput approach and platform using 15 minute reversed-phase capillary liquid chromatography (RPLC) separations in conjunction with ion mobility spectrometry-mass spectrometry (IMS-MS) measurements was evaluated for the rapid analysis of complex proteomics samples. To test the separation quality of the short LC gradient, a sample was prepared by spiking twenty reference peptides at varying concentrations from 1 ng/mL to 10 µg/mL into a tryptic digest of mouse blood plasma and analyzed with both a LC-Linear Ion Trap Fourier Transform (FT) MS and LC-IMS-TOF MS. The LC-FT MS detected thirteen out of the twenty spiked peptides that had concentrations ≥100 ng/mL. In contrast, the drift time selected mass spectra from the LC-IMS-TOF MS analyses yielded identifications for nineteen of the twenty peptides with all spiking levels present. The greater dynamic range of the LC-IMS-TOF MS system could be attributed to two factors. First, the LC-IMS-TOF MS system enabled drift time separation of the low concentration spiked peptides from the high concentration mouse peptide matrix components, reducing signal interference and background, and allowing species to be resolved that would otherwise be obscured by other components. Second, the automatic gain control (AGC) in the linear ion trap of the hybrid FT MS instrument limits the number of ions that are accumulated to reduce space charge effects and achieve high measurement accuracy, but in turn limits the achievable dynamic range compared to the IMS-TOF instrument.

The DNA damage response likely includes a global phosphorylation signaling cascade process for sensing the damaged DNA condition and coordinating responses to cope with and repair the perturbed cellular state. We utilized a label-free liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry approach to evaluate changes in protein phosphorylation associated with PP5 activity during the DNA damage response. Biological replicate analyses of bleomycin-treated HeLa cells expressing either WT-PP5 or mutant inactive PP5 lead to the identification of six potential target proteins of PP5 action. Four of these putative targets have been previously reported to be involved in DNA damage responses. Using phospho-site specific antibodies, we confirmed that phosphorylation of one target, ribosomal protein S6, was selectively decreased in cells overexpressing catalytically inactive PP5. Our findings also suggest that PP5 may play a role in controlling translation and in regulating substrates for proline-directed kinases, such as MAP kinases and cyclin-dependent protein kinases that are involved in response to DNA damage.

Temporally and spatially resolved mapping of protein abundance patterns within the mammalian brain is of significant interest for understanding brain function and molecular etiologies of neurodegenerative diseases; however, such imaging efforts have been greatly challenged by complexity of the proteome, throughput and sensitivity of applied analytical methodologies, and accurate quantitation of protein abundances across the brain. Here, we describe a methodology for comprehensive spatial proteome mapping that addresses these challenges by employing voxelation integrated with automated microscale sample processing, high-throughput liquid chromatography (LC) system coupled with high-resolution Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (FTICR) mass spectrometer, and a “universal” stable isotope labeled reference sample approach for robust quantitation. We applied this methodology as a proof-of-concept trial for the analysis of protein distribution within a single coronal slice of a C57BL/6J mouse brain. For relative quantitation of the protein abundances across the slice, an 18O-isotopically labeled reference sample, derived from a whole control coronal slice from another mouse, was spiked into each voxel sample, and stable isotopic intensity ratios were used to obtain measures of relative protein abundances. In total, we generated maps of protein abundance patterns for 1028 proteins. The significant agreement of the protein distributions with previously reported data supports the validity of this methodology, which opens new opportunities for studying the spatial brain proteome and its dynamics during the course of disease progression and other important biological and associated health aspects in a discovery-driven fashion.

Proteomics analysis based-on reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RPLC) is widely practiced; however, variations providing cutting-edge RPLC performance have generally not been adopted even though their benefits are well established. Here, we describe an automated format 20 kpsi RPLC system for proteomics and metabolomics that includes on-line coupling of micro-solid phase extraction for sample loading and allows electrospray ionization emitters to be readily replaced. The system uses 50 microm i.d. x 40-200 cm fused-silica capillaries packed with 1.4-3-microm porous C18-bonded silica particles to obtain chromatographic peak capacities of 1000-1500 for complex peptide and metabolite mixtures. This separation quality provided high-confidence identifications of12 000 different tryptic peptides from2000 distinct Shewanella oneidensis proteins (approximately 40% of the proteins predicted for the S. oneidensis proteome) in a single 12-h ion trap tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) analysis. The protein identification reproducibility approached 90% between replicate experiments. The average protein MS/MS identification rate exceeded 10 proteins/min, and 1207 proteins were identified in 120 min through assignment of 5944 different peptides. The proteomic analysis dynamic range of the 20 kpsi RPLC-ion trap MS/MS was approximately 10(6) based on analyses of a human blood plasma sample, for which 835 distinct proteins were identified with high confidence in a single 12-h run. A single run of the 20 kpsi RPLC-accurate mass MS detected5000 different compounds from a metabolomics sample.

We describe a method of using heat to produce any pattern of differential permeability in commercially available fluid permeable membranes. An aluminum heating block is machined with specific patterns, heated, and placed in contact with a continuous sheet of polypropylene membrane in order to create impermeable regions in the otherwise permeable membrane. The permeability of the membrane to fluid can be altered by this method in any pattern chosen. Such differentially permeable membranes can be used in high-density, multi-well filtration plates for chemical syntheses or biological assays.

Background: High doses of ionizing radiation result in biological damage, however the precise relationships between long term health effects, including cancer, and low dose exposures remain poorly understood and are currently extrapolated using high dose exposure data. Identifying the signaling pathways and individual proteins affected at the post-translational level by radiation should shed valuable insight into the molecular mechanisms that regulate dose dependent responses to radiation. Principle Findings: We have identified 6845 unique phosphopeptides (2566 phosphoproteins) from control and irradiated (2 and 50 cGy) primary human skin fibroblasts one hour post-exposure. Dual statistical analyses based on spectral counts and peak intensities identified 287 phosphopeptides (from 231 proteins) and 244 phosphopeptides (from 182 proteins) that varied significantly following exposure to 2 and 50 cGy respectively. This screen identified phosphorylation sites on proteins with known roles in radiation responses including TP53BP1 as well as previously unidentified radiation responsive proteins such as the candidate tumor suppressor SASH1. Bioinformatics analyses suggest that low and high doses of radiation affect both overlapping and unique biological processes and suggest a role of MAP kinase and protein kinase A (PKA) signaling in the radiation response as well as differential regulation of p53 networks at low and highmore » doses of radiation. Conlcusions: Our results represent the most comprehensive analysis of the phosphoproteomes of human primary fibroblasts exposed to multiple doses of ionizing radiation published to date and provides a basis for the systems level identification of biological processes, molecular pathways and individual proteins regulated in a dose dependent manner by ionizing radiation. Further study of these modified proteins and affected networks should help to define the molecular mechanisms that regulate biological responses to radiation at different radiation doses and elucidate the impact of low dose radiation exposure on human health.« less

We report on the development and characterization of automated metal-free multiple-column nanoLC instrumentation for sensitive and high-throughput analysis of phosphopeptides with mass spectrometry. The system employs a multiple-column capillary LC fluidic design developed for high-throughput analysis of peptides (Anal. Chem. 2001, 73, 3011-3021), incorporating modifications to achieve broad and sensitive analysis of phosphopeptides. The integrated nanoLC columns (50 microm i.d. x 30 cm containing 5 microm C18 particles) and the on-line solid phase extraction columns (150 microm i.d. x 4 cm containing 5 microm C18 particles) were connected to automatic switching valves with non-metal chromatographic accessories, and other modifications to avoid the exposure of the analyte to any metal surfaces during handling, separation, and electrospray ionization. The nanoLC developed provided a separation peak capacity of approximately 250 for phosphopeptides (and approximately 400 for normal peptides). A detection limit of 0.4 fmol was obtained when a linear ion trap tandem mass spectrometer (Finnegan LTQ) was coupled to a 50-microm i.d. column of the nanoLC. The separation power and sensitivity provided by the nanoLC-LTQ enabled identification of approximately 4600 phosphopeptide candidates from approximately 60 microg COS-7 cell tryptic digest followed by IMAC enrichment and approximately 520 tyrosine phosphopeptides from approximately 2mg of human T cells digests followed by phosphotyrosine peptide immunoprecipitation.

We describe a four-column, high-pressure capillary liquid chromatography (LC) system for robust, high-throughput liquid chromatography−mass spectrometry (LC−MS(/MS)) analyses. This system performs multiple LC separations in parallel, but staggers each of them such that the data-rich region of each separation is sampled sequentially. By allowing nearly continuous data acquisition, this design maximizes the use of the mass spectrometer. Each analytical column is connected to a corresponding ESI emitter in order to avoid the use of postcolumn switching and associated dead volume issues. Encoding translation stages are employed to sequentially position the emitters at the MS inlet. The high reproducibility of this system is demonstrated using consecutive analyses of global tryptic digest of the microbe Shewanella oneidensis.

We have developed an efficient and robust high-pressure capillary LC-MS method for the identification of large numbers of metabolites in biological samples using both positive and negative ESI modes. Initial efforts focused on optimizing the separation conditions for metabolite extracts using various LC stationary phases in conjunction with multiple mobile-phase systems, as applied to the separation of 45 metabolite standards. The optimal mobile and stationary phases of those tested were determined experimentally (in terms of peak shapes, theoretical plates, retention of small, polar compounds, etc.), and both linear and exponential gradients were applied in the study of metabolite extracts from the cyanobacterium Cyanothece sp. ATCC 51142. Finally, an automated dual-capillary LC system was constructed and evaluated for the effectiveness and reproducibility of the chromatographic separations using the above samples. When coupled with a commercial LTQ-orbitrap MS, approximately 900 features were reproducibly detected from Cyanothece sp. ATCC 51142 metabolite extracts. In addition, 12 compounds were tentatively identified, based on accurate mass, isotopic distribution, and MS/MS information.

A machine that employs a novel reagent delivery technique for biomolecular synthesis has been developed. This machine separates the addressing of individual synthesis sites from the actual process of reagent delivery by using masks placed over the sites. Because of this separation, this machine is both cost-effective and scalable, and thus the time required to synthesize 384 or 1536 unique biomolecules is very nearly the same. Importantly, the mask design allows scaling of the number of synthesis sites without the addition of new valving. Physical and biological comparisons between DNA made on a commercially available synthesizer and this unit show that it produces DNA of similar quality.