Identification of proteoforms by top-down proteomics using two-dimensional low/low pH reversed-phase liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. 2024

Philipp T Kaulich, and Liam Cassidy, and Andreas Tholey
Systematic Proteome Research & Bioanalytics, Institute for Experimental Medicine, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Kiel, Germany.

In top-down (TD) proteomics, efficient proteoform separation is crucial to reduce the sample complexity and increase the depth of the analysis. Here, we developed a two-dimensional low pH/low pH reversed-phase liquid chromatography separation scheme for TD proteomics. The first dimension for offline fractionation was performed using a polymeric reversed-phase (PLRP-S) column with trifluoroacetic acid as ion-pairing reagent. The second dimension, a C4 nanocolumn with formic acid as ion-pairing reagent, was coupled online with a high-field asymmetric ion mobility spectrometry (FAIMS) Orbitrap Tribrid mass spectrometer. For both dimensions several parameters were optimized, such as the adaption of the LC gradients in the second dimension according to the elution time (i.e., fraction number) in the first dimension. Avoidance of elevated temperatures and prolonged exposure to acidic conditions minimized cleavage of acid labile aspartate-proline peptide bonds. Furthermore, a concatenation strategy was developed to reduce the total measurement time. We compared our low/low pH with a previously published high pH (C4, ammonium formate)/low pH strategy and found that both separation strategies led to complementary proteoform identifications, mainly below 20 kDa, with a higher number of proteoforms identified by the low/low pH separation. With the optimized separation scheme, more than 4900 proteoforms from 1250 protein groups were identified in Caco-2 cells.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D006863 Hydrogen-Ion Concentration The normality of a solution with respect to HYDROGEN ions; H+. It is related to acidity measurements in most cases by pH pH,Concentration, Hydrogen-Ion,Concentrations, Hydrogen-Ion,Hydrogen Ion Concentration,Hydrogen-Ion Concentrations
D000097922 Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry A microanalytical technique combining mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography for the qualitative as well as quantitative determinations of compounds. HPLC-MS,High Performance Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry,High Pressure Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry,LC-MS,UPLC-MS,Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry,Ultra-Performance Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry,Chromatography-Mass Spectrometries, Liquid,Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry, Liquid,High Performance Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry,High Pressure Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry,Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry,Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometries,Spectrometries, Liquid Chromatography-Mass,Spectrometry, Liquid Chromatography-Mass,Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry
D056148 Chromatography, Reverse-Phase A chromatography technique in which the stationary phase is composed of a non-polar substance with a polar mobile phase, in contrast to normal-phase chromatography in which the stationary phase is a polar substance with a non-polar mobile phase. Chromatography, Reversed-Phase Liquid,Reversed-Phase Chromatography,Reversed-Phase Liquid Chromatography,Reverse-Phase Chromatography,Reverse-Phase Liquid Chromatography,Chromatography, Reverse Phase,Chromatography, Reversed-Phase,Reverse Phase Chromatography,Reversed Phase Chromatography
D018938 Caco-2 Cells Human colonic ADENOCARCINOMA cells that are able to express differentiation features characteristic of mature intestinal cells, such as ENTEROCYTES. These cells are valuable in vitro tools for studies related to intestinal cell function and differentiation. Caco 2 Cells,Caco-2 Cell,Cell, Caco-2,Cells, Caco-2
D040901 Proteomics The systematic study of the complete complement of proteins (PROTEOME) of organisms. Peptidomics

Related Publications

Philipp T Kaulich, and Liam Cassidy, and Andreas Tholey
April 2018, International journal of mass spectrometry,
Philipp T Kaulich, and Liam Cassidy, and Andreas Tholey
January 2016, Advances in experimental medicine and biology,
Philipp T Kaulich, and Liam Cassidy, and Andreas Tholey
October 2010, Proteomics,
Philipp T Kaulich, and Liam Cassidy, and Andreas Tholey
May 2009, Analytical biochemistry,
Copied contents to your clipboard!