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Use of flower‐like gold nanoparticles in time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry
Author(s) -
Kolářová Lenka,
Kučera Lukáš,
Vaňhara Petr,
Hampl Aleš,
Havel Josef
Publication year - 2015
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.7265
Subject(s) - chemistry , mass spectrometry , colloidal gold , desorption , analytical chemistry (journal) , matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization , chromatography , mass spectrum , matrix (chemical analysis) , nanoparticle , ionization , maldi imaging , time of flight mass spectrometry , ion , nanotechnology , adsorption , materials science , organic chemistry
Rationale Many kinds of nanoparticles (NPs) have been used for mass spectrometry (MS) so far. Here we report the first use of flower‐like gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) as a mediator to enhance ionization in MS of peptides and proteins. Methods Flower‐like AuNPs were characterized using transmission and scanning electron microscopy, UV‐VIS spectrophotometry, and laser desorption/ionization (LDI)‐MS and compared with polyhedral AuNPs. Mass spectra were obtained in positive ion mode using a time‐of‐flight (TOF) analyzer coupled with either matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) or surface‐assisted laser desorption/ionization (SALDI) methods. Results The intensities of peptide peaks ( m/z 500–3500) were up to 7.5× and up to 7× higher using flower‐like AuNPs and flower‐like AuNPs‐enriched α‐cyano‐4‐hydroxycinnamic acid (CHCA) matrix respectively, than the classical CHCA matrix. The signals of higher mass peptide/protein peaks ( m/z 3600–17000) were up to 2× higher with using flower‐like AuNPs‐enriched CHCA matrix than conventional CHCA matrix. The signal of profile peaks generated by intact cell MALDI‐TOFMS of fibroblast suspension ( m/z 4000–20000) was 2× higher with using flower‐like AuNPs combined with sinapinic acid (SA) compared to SA matrix alone. The use of flower‐like AuNPs as internal calibration standard for the calibration of MS spectra of peptides was performed. Conclusions Flower‐like AuNPs and flower‐like AuNPs combined with CHCA or SA as combined matrices for MS measurement of peptides and proteins were used. Comparison of the conventional MALDI method and our method with flower‐like AuNPs was carried out. In addition, gold clusters generated from flower‐like AuNPs by SALDI provide a suitable internal calibration standard for MS analysis of peptides. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.