Compact tunable Cr:LiSAF laser for infrared matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization.

A tunable Cr:LiSAF laser-pumped optical parametric oscillator was used for mid-infrared matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry experiments. The mass spectra of substance P, bovine insulin and pd(T)10 in the 2.88-2.96 microns range showed excellent single shot signal quality (signal-to-noise-ratio, resolution) but poor shot-to-shot reproducibility. The reproducibility is expected to improve with more stable laser design. No correlation was found between the absorption spectrum of the matrix and the MALDI response.

Detection and quantitation of beta-2-microglobulin glycosylated end products in human serum by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry.

beta-2-Microglobulin (beta 2M) is a major protein component found in the amyloid deposits of dialysis-related amyloidosis (DRA) patients. Evidence has been shown that the advanced glycosylated end-products (AGEs) of beta 2M present in sera were related to DRA. We demonstrated that matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) is a useful tool to investigate the nature of glycosylation of beta 2M and detection of beta 2M or beta 2M-AGEs in human serum. The high-mass end of beta 2M-AGE distribution was found to extend to the neighborhood of 12,868 Da, corresponding to condensations with seven glucose molecules. We also have shown that both beta 2M and beta 2M-AGEs can be detected at low picomole levels directly in bovine serum. Based on these findings, the sera of DRA patients were studied to determine whether beta 2M-AGEs can be detected by MALDI-MS. In an attempt to investigate the possibility of quantitation with MALDI, human sera samples with different concentrations of beta 2M-AGE were examined. We were able to correlate the concentration of beta 2M-AGE with the number of detected AGE products, pointing to the feasibility of MALDI as a quantitative tool.