Polymeric inverse micelles as selective peptide extraction agents for MALDI-MS analysis

Analyses of peptides in complex mixtures are significant challenges in proteomics applications. Here, we report an amphiphilic polymer-based nanoassembly that is capable of selectively extracting peptides, on the basis of their isoelectric points, into an immiscible organic phase from an aqueous solution. The isoelectric point (pI) cutoff in these extractions depends on the pH of the aqueous solution, and thus, sequential fractionation of peptide mixtures based on pI can be accomplished by varying the pH of the aqueous solution. Additionally, we observe an unexpected enhancement in the MALDI-MS signal for extracted peptides ionized in the presence of the polymer, which allows us to obtain reproducible ion signals for some peptides at concentrations as low as 10 pM.