Direct ampholyte-free liquid-phase isoelectric peptide focusing: application to the human serum proteome

Electrophoresis. 2004 Jan;25(1):128-33. doi: 10.1002/elps.200305700.

Abstract

In this study, we utilized a multidimensional peptide separation strategy combined with tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) for the identification of proteins in human serum. After enzymatically digesting serum with trypsin, the peptides were fractionated using liquid-phase isoelectric focusing (IEF) in a novel ampholyte-free format. Twenty IEF fractions were collected and analyzed by reversed-phase microcapillary liquid chromatography (microLC)-MS/MS. Bioinformatic analysis of the raw MS/MS spectra resulted in the identification of 844 unique peptides, corresponding to 437 proteins. This study demonstrates the efficacy of ampholyte-free peptide autofocusing, which alleviates peptide losses in ampholyte removal strategies. The results show that the separation strategy is effective for high-throughput characterization of proteins from complex proteomic mixtures.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Blood Proteins / analysis*
  • Humans
  • Isoelectric Focusing / methods*
  • Mass Spectrometry
  • Peptide Fragments / analysis*
  • Proteome / analysis
  • Proteomics / methods

Substances

  • Blood Proteins
  • Peptide Fragments
  • Proteome