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Acid hydrolysis followed by matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry for the rapid diagnosis of serum protein biomarkers in patients with major depression
Author(s) -
Lo LiHua,
Huang TiaoLai,
Shiea Jentaie
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
rapid communications in mass spectrometry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.528
H-Index - 136
eISSN - 1097-0231
pISSN - 0951-4198
DOI - 10.1002/rcm.3908
Subject(s) - chemistry , fibrinogen , transferrin , mass spectrometry , matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization , chromatography , acute phase protein , hydrochloric acid , albumin , blood proteins , desorption , biochemistry , medicine , inflammation , inorganic chemistry , organic chemistry , adsorption
We have developed a technique combining acid hydrolysis with matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry (MALDI‐TOF MS) for the rapid study of the changes in the levels of positive and negative acute phase protein biomarkers in the sera of patients suffering from major depression. The serum proteins were first precipitated using an organic solvent; after separation, they were subjected to hydrochloric acid hydrolysis (6 M HCl) for 10 min. The resulting peptides were characterized using MALDI‐TOF MS. Short‐term treatment of the serum proteins with HCl efficiently removed interference from the abundant protein – albumin – and produced abundant peptide ion signals in the range of m / z 4000–10 000. This approach allowed us to rapidly detect the peptide ions originating from transferrin (a common negative acute phase protein) and fibrinogen (a common positive acute phase protein). The average ratios and (standard deviations) of the ion signals derived from transferrin/fibrinogen were 3.58 (±1.93) for the healthy control subjects and 1.02 (±0.52) for the patients suffering from major depression. The differences in transferrin/fibrinogen ratios between healthy controls and patients suggest that major depression will induce internal inflammation and cause either an increase in the level of fibrinogen or a decrease in the level of transferrin. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.