Mass spectrometric analysis of mono- and multi-phosphopeptides by selective binding with NiZnFe2O4 magnetic nanoparticles

NiCoMnO4: A Bifunctional Affinity Probe for His-Tagged Protein Purification and Phosphorylation Sites Recognition

A bifunctional affinity probe NiCoMnO4 was designed and prepared with controllable morphology and size using facile methods. It was observed that the probe could be applied in His-tagged proteins purification and phosphopeptides enrichment simply through the buffer modulation. NiCoMnO4 particles showed satisfactory cycling performance for His-tagged proteins purification and broad pH-tolerance of loading buffer for phosphopeptides affinity. Therefore, a high-throughput, cost-effective, and efficient protein/peptide purification method was developed within 10 min based on the novel bifunctional affinity probe.

Low-cost iron oxide magnetic nanoclusters affinity probe for the enrichment of endogenous phosphopeptides in human saliva

Simple and low cost iron oxide magnetic nanoclusters (Fe₃O₄ MNCs) affinity material has been directly applied for phosphorylated peptides/proteins enrichment.

A facile strategy for synthesis of spinel ferrite nano-granules and their potential applications

A number of spinel ferrite nano-granules were synthesized in DMF through a calcination process under air.

Hydrazide functionalized monodispersed silica microspheres: a novel probe with tunable selectivity for a versatile enrichment of phosphopeptides with different numbers of phosphorylation sites in MS analysis

Hydrazide functionalized monodispersed silica microspheres (HFMSM) were developed for the enrichment of phosphopeptides for the first time.

Selective Enrichment of Cysteine-Containing Phosphopeptides for Subphosphoproteome Analysis

Among the natural amino acids, cysteine is unique since it can form a disulfide bond through oxidation and reduction of sulfhydryl and thus plays a pervasive role in modulation of proteins activities and structures. Crosstalk between phosphorylation and other post-translational modifications has become a recurrent theme in cell signaling regulation. However, the crosstalk between the phosphorylation and the formation and reductive cleavage of disulfide bond has not been investigated so far. To facilitate the study of this crosstalk, it is important to explore the subset of phosphoproteome where phosphorylations are occurred near to cysteine in the protein sequences. In this study, we developed a straightforward sequential enrichment method by combining the thiol affinity chromatography with the immobilized titanium ion affinity chromatography to selectively enrich cysteine-containing phosphopeptides. The high specificity and high sensitivity of this method were demonstrated by analyzing the samples of Jurkat cells. This "divide and conquer" strategy by specific analysis of a subphosphoproteome enables identification of more low abundant phosphosites than the conventional global phosphoproteome approach. Interestingly, amino acid residues surrounding the identified phosphosites were enriched with buried residues (L, V, A, C) while depleted with exposed residues (D, E, R, K). Also, the phosphosites identified by this approach showed a dramatic decrease in locating in disorder regions compared to that identified by conventional global phosphoproteome. Further analysis showed that more proline directed kinases and fewer acidophilic kinases were responsible for the phosphorylation sites of this subphosphoproteome.

Nickel Ferrite Nanoparticles Anchored onto Silica Nanofibers for Designing Magnetic and Flexible Nanofibrous Membranes

Many applications proposed for magnetic silica nanofibers require their assembly into a cellular membrane structure. The feature to keep structure stable upon large deformation is crucial for a macroscopic porous material which functions reliably. However, it remains a key issue to realize robust flexibility in two-dimensional (2D) magnetic silica nanofibrous networks. Here, we report that the combination of electrospun silica nanofibers with zein dip-coating can lead to the formation of flexible, magnetic, and hierarchical porous silica nanofibrous membranes (SNM). The 290 nm diameter silica nanofibers act as templates for the uniform anchoring of nickel ferrite nanoparticles (size of 50 nm). Benefiting from the homogeneous and stable nanofiber-nanoparticle composite structure, the resulting magnetic SNM can maintain their structure integrity under repeated bending as high as 180° and can facilely recover. The unique hierarchical structure also provides this new class of silica membrane with integrated properties of ultralow density, high porosity, large surface area, good magnetic responsiveness, robust dye adsorption capacity, and effective emulsion separation performance. Significantly, the synthesis of such fascinating membranes may provide new insight for further application of silica in a self-supporting, structurally adaptive, and 2D membrane form.

Employing Tryptone as a General Phase Transfer Agent to Produce Renal Clearable Nanodots for Bioimaging

Hydrophobic ultrasmall nanoparticles synthesized in nonpolar solvents exhibit great potential in biomedical applications. However, a major challenge when applying these nanomaterials in biomedical research is the lack of a versatile strategy to render them water dispersible while preserving the hydrodynamic diameter (HD) to be less than 8 nm for efficient renal clearance. To address this problem, tryptone is employed as the novel ligand to fabricate a simple, versatile, and inexpensive strategy for transferring hydrophobic NaGdF(4) nanodots (3 nm in diameter) from organic phase into aqueous phase without any complicated organic synthesis. The paramagnetic properties of NaGdF(4) nanodots are well retained after the phase transfer process. In particular, the tryptone-NaGdF(4) nanodots have ultrasmall HD (ca., 7.5 nm), which greatly improves their tumor accumulation and facilitates renal clearance within 24 h postinjection. The as-prepared tryptone-NaGdF(4) nanodots can also be further functionalized with other molecules for extensively biomedical and bioanalytical applications. Furthermore, the proposed strategy can easily be extended to transfer other types of inorganic nanoparticles from hydrophobic to hydrophilic for facilitating biomedical applications.

Recent advances in applications of nanomaterials for sample preparation

Sample preparation is a key step for qualitative and quantitative analysis of trace analytes in complicated matrix. Along with the rapid development of nanotechnology in material science, numerous nanomaterials have been developed with particularly useful applications in analytical chemistry. Benefitting from their high specific areas, increased surface activities, and unprecedented physical/chemical properties, the potentials of nanomaterials for rapid and efficient sample preparation have been exploited extensively. In this review, recent progress of novel nanomaterials applied in sample preparation has been summarized and discussed. Both nanoparticles and nanoporous materials are evaluated for their unusual performance in sample preparation. Various compositions and functionalizations extended the applications of nanomaterials in sample preparations, and distinct size and shape selectivity was generated from the diversified pore structures of nanoporous materials. Such great variety make nanomaterials a kind of versatile tools in sample preparation for almost all categories of analytes.

Development of the affinity materials for phosphorylated proteins/peptides enrichment in phosphoproteomics analysis

Reversible protein phosphorylation is a key event in numerous biological processes. Mass spectrometry (MS) is the most powerful analysis tool in modern phosphoproteomics. However, the direct MS analysis of phosphorylated proteins/peptides is still a big challenge because of the low abundance and insufficient ionization of phosphorylated proteins/peptides as well as the suppression effects of nontargets. Enrichment of phosphorylated proteins/peptides by affinity materials from complex biosamples is the most widely used strategy to enhance the MS detection. The demand of efficiently enriching phosphorylated proteins/peptides has spawned diverse affinity materials based on different enrichment principles (e.g., electronic attraction, chelating). In this review, we summarize the recent development of various affinity materials for phosphorylated proteins/peptides enrichment. We will highlight the design and fabrication of these affinity materials, discuss the enrichment mechanisms involved in different affinity materials, and suggest the future challenges and research directions in this field.

Fishing the PTM proteome with chemical approaches using functional solid phases

Currently available chemical approaches for the enrichment and separation of a PTM proteome using functional solid phases were reviewed.

Highly selective enrichment of phosphopeptides with high-index facets exposed octahedral tin dioxide nanoparticles for mass spectrometric analysis

High-index facets exposed octahedral tin dioxide (SnO2) nanoparticles were successfully synthesized and applied to selectively enrich phosphopeptides for mass spectrometric analysis. The high selectivity and capacity of the octahedral SnO2 nanoparticles were demonstrated by effectively enriching phosphopeptides from digests of phosphoprotein (α- or β-casein), protein mixtures of β-casein and bovine serum albumin, milk, and human serum samples. The unique octahedral SnO2 with abundant unsaturated coordination Sn atoms exhibited enhanced affinity and selective coordination ability with phosphopeptides due to their high chemical activity. The strong affinity led to highly selective capture and enrichment of phosphopeptides for sensitive detection through the bidentate bonds formed between surface atoms and phosphate. The phosphopeptides could be detected in β-casein down to 4 × 10(-9)M or in the mixture of β-casein and BSA with a molar ratio of even 1:100. The performance in selective enrichment of phosphopeptides from drinking milk and human serum showed powerful evidence of high selectivity and efficiency in identifying the low-abundant phosphopeptides from complicated biological samples. This work provided a way to improve the physical and chemical properties of materials by tailoring their exposed facets for selective enrichment of phosphopeptides.