Sequencing and Identification of Endogenous Neuropeptides with Matrix-Enhanced Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Matrix-enhanced secondary ion mass spectrometry (ME-SIMS) has overcome one of the biggest disadvantages of SIMS analysis by providing the ability to detect intact biomolecules at high spatial resolution. By increasing ionization efficiency and minimizing primary ion beam-induced fragmentation of analytes, ME-SIMS has proven useful for detection of numerous biorelevant species, now including peptides. We report here the first demonstration of tandem ME-SIMS for de novo sequencing of endogenous neuropeptides from tissue in situ (i.e., rat pituitary gland). The peptide ions were isolated for tandem MS analysis using a 1 Da mass isolation window, followed by collision-induced dissociation (CID) at 1.5 keV in a collision cell filled with argon gas, for confident identification of the detected peptide. Using this method, neuropeptides up to m/z 2000 were detected and sequenced from the posterior lobe of the rat pituitary gland. These results demonstrate the potential for ME-SIMS tandem MS development in bottom-up proteomics imaging at high-spatial resolution.