Full Separation and Sequencing of Isomeric Proteoforms in the Middle-Down Mass Range Using Cyclic Ion Mobility and Electron Capture Dissociation.

Unambiguous identification of distinct proteoforms and their biological functions is a significant analytical challenge due to the many combinations of post-translational modifications (PTM) that generate isomeric proteoforms. Resulting chimeric tandem mass spectra hinder detailed structural characterization of individual proteoforms for mixtures with more than two isomers. Large isomeric peptides and intact isomeric proteins are extremely difficult to distinguish with traditional chromatographic separation methods. Gas-phase ion separation techniques such as ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) methods now offer high resolving power that may enable separation of isomeric biomolecules, such as peptides and proteins. We explored novel high-resolution cyclic ion mobility spectrometry (cIM) combined with an electro-magnetostatic cell for "on-the-fly" electron capture dissociation (ECD) for separation and sequencing of large isomeric peptides. We demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach on ternary mixtures of mono- and trimethylated isomers of histone H3 N-tails (∼5.4 kDa), achieving a complete separation of these isomers with an average resolving power of ∼400 and a resolution of 1.5 and with nearly 100% amino acid sequence coverage. Our results demonstrate the potential of the cIM-MS/MS(ECD) technology to enhance middle-down and top-down proteomics workflows, thereby facilitating the identification of near-identical proteoforms with essential biological functions in complex mixtures.

Enhanced Top-Down Protein Characterization with Electron Capture Dissociation and Cyclic Ion Mobility Spectrometry.

Tandem mass spectrometry of denatured, multiply charged high mass protein precursor ions yield extremely dense spectra with hundreds of broad and overlapping product ion isotopic distributions of differing charge states that yield an elevated baseline of unresolved "noise" centered about the precursor ion. Development of mass analyzers and signal processing methods to increase mass resolving power and manipulation of precursor and product ion charge through solution additives or ion-ion reactions have been thoroughly explored as solutions to spectral congestion. Here, we demonstrate the utility of electron capture dissociation (ECD) coupled with high-resolution cyclic ion mobility spectrometry (cIMS) to greatly increase top-down protein characterization capabilities. Congestion of protein ECD spectra was reduced using cIMS of the ECD product ions and "mobility fractions", that is, extracted mass spectra for segments of the 2D mobiligram (m/z versus drift time). For small proteins, such as ubiquitin (8.6 kDa), where mass resolving power was not the limiting factor for characterization, pre-IMS ECD and mobility fractions did not significantly increase protein sequence coverage, but an increase in the number of identified product ions was observed. However, a dramatic increase in performance, measured by protein sequence coverage, was observed for larger and more highly charged species, such as the +35 charge state of carbonic anhydrase (29 kDa). Pre-IMS ECD combined with mobility fractions yielded a 135% increase in the number of annotated isotope clusters and a 75% increase in unique product ions compared to processing without using the IMS dimension. These results yielded 89% sequence coverage for carbonic anhydrase.

Surface-induced dissociation of protein complexes on a cyclic ion mobility spectrometer.

We describe the implementation of a simple three-electrode surface-induced dissociation (SID) cell on a cyclic ion mobility spectrometer (cIMS) and demonstrate the utility of multipass mobility separations for resolving multiple conformations of protein complexes generated during collision-induced and surface-induced unfolding (CIU & SIU) experiments. In addition to CIU and SIU, SID of protein complexes is readily accomplished within the native instrument software and with no additional external power supplies by entering a single SID collision energy, a simplification in user experience compared to prior implementations. A set of cyclic homomeric protein complexes and a heterohexamer with known CID and SID behavior were analyzed to investigate mass and mobility resolution improvements, the latter of which improved by 20-50% (median: 33%) compared to a linear travelling wave device. Multiple passes of intact complexes, or their SID fragments, increased the mobility resolution by an average of 15% per pass, with the racetrack effect being observed after ∼3 or 4 passes, depending on the drift time spread of the analytes. Even with modest improvements to apparent mobility resolving power, multipass experiments were particularly useful for separating conformations produced from CIU and SIU experiments. We illustrate several examples where either (1) multipass experiments revealed multiple overlapping conformations previously unobserved or obscured due to limited mobility resolution, or (2) CIU or SIU conformations that appeared 'native' in a single pass experiment were actually slightly compacted or expanded, with the change only being measurable through multipass experiments. The work conducted here, the first utilization of multipass cyclic ion mobility for CIU, SIU, and SID of protein assemblies and a demonstration of a wholly integrated SIU/SID workflow, paves the way for widespread adoption of SID technology for native mass spectrometry and also improves our understanding of gas-phase protein complex CIU and SIU conformationomes.

Association between phospholipid metabolism in plasma and spontaneous preterm birth: a discovery lipidomic analysis in the cork pregnancy cohort.

INTRODUCTION: Preterm birth (PTB) is defined as birth occurring before 37 weeks' gestation, affects 5-9% of all pregnancies in developed countries, and is the leading cause of perinatal mortality. Spontaneous preterm birth (sPTB) accounts for 31-50% of all PTB, but the underlying pathophysiology is poorly understood. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to decipher the lipidomics pathways involved in pathophysiology of sPTB. METHODS: Blood samples were taken from SCreening fOr Pregnancy Endpoints (SCOPE), an international study that recruited 5628 nulliparous women, with a singleton low-risk pregnancy. Our analysis focused on plasma from SCOPE in Cork. Discovery profiling of the samples was undertaken using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry Lipidomics, and features significantly altered between sPTB (n = 16) and Control (n = 32) groups were identified using empirical Bayes testing, adjusting for multiple comparisons. RESULTS: Twenty-six lipids showed lower levels in plasma of sPTB compared to controls (adjusted p < 0.05), including 20 glycerophospholipids (12 phosphatidylcholines, 7 phosphatidylethanolamines, 1 phosphatidylinositol) and 6 sphingolipids (2 ceramides and 4 sphingomyelines). In addition, a diaglyceride, DG (34:4), was detected in higher levels in sPTB compared to controls. CONCLUSIONS: We report reduced levels of plasma phospholipids in sPTB. Phospholipid integrity is linked to biological membrane stability and inflammation, while storage and breakdown of lipids have previously been implicated in pregnancy complications. The contribution of phospholipids to sPTB as a cause or effect is still unclear; however, our results of differential plasma phospholipid expression represent another step in advancing our understanding of the aetiology of sPTB. Further work is needed to validate these findings in independent pregnancy cohorts.

The measurement of KRAS G12 mutants using multiplexed selected reaction monitoring and ion mobility mass spectrometry.

RATIONALE: There is a considerable clinical demand to determine key mutations in genes involved with cancer which necessitates the deployment of highly specific and robust analytical methods. Multiplex liquid chromatography with selected reaction monitoring (LC/SRM) assays offer the ability to achieve quantitation down to levels expected to be present in clinical samples. Ion mobility mass spectrometry (IMS/MS) assays can provide increased peak capacity and hence separation in an extremely short time frame, and in addition provide physicochemical data regarding the collision cross-section of an analyte which can be used in conjunction with the m/z value of an ion to increase detection specificity. METHODS: For LC/SRM, unlabelled peptides and corresponding stable-isotope-labelled standards were spiked into digested human plasma and analysed using ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) coupled to a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer to enable the generation of analyte-specific calibration lines. Synthetic unlabelled peptides were infused into a Synapt G2 mass spectrometer for travelling wave ion mobility separation and TW CCSN2 values were derived from comparison with previously generated TW CCSN2 calibration values. RESULTS: Linear calibration lines (0.125 to 25 fmol/µL) were established for each of the KRAS peptides. UHPLC separated the peptides and hence enabled them to be split into different retention time functions/windows. This separation enabled detection of three or four transitions for each light and heavy peptide with at least 10 points per peak for accurate quantitation. All six KRAS G12 peptides were separated using IMS/MS, enabling precise TW CCSN2 values to be determined. Although some of the G12 peptides chromatographically co-eluted, all the peptides were distinguished by m/z, retention time and/or drift time. CONCLUSIONS: This study advocates that LC/SRM and IMS/MS could both be used to identify single amino acid substitutions in KRAS as an alternative to commonly used methods such as circulating tumour DNA analysis.

Ion-Mobility Spectrometry Can Assign Exact Fucosyl Positions in Glycans and Prevent Misinterpretation of Mass-Spectrometry Data After Gas-Phase Rearrangement.

The fucosylation of glycans leads to diverse structures and is associated with many biological and disease processes. The exact determination of fucoside positions by tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) is complicated because rearrangements in the gas phase lead to erroneous structural assignments. Here, we demonstrate that the combined use of ion-mobility MS and well-defined synthetic glycan standards can prevent misinterpretation of MS/MS spectra and incorrect structural assignments of fucosylated glycans. We show that fucosyl residues do not migrate to hydroxyl groups but to acetamido moieties of N-acetylneuraminic acid as well as N-acetylglucosamine residues and nucleophilic sites of an anomeric tag, yielding specific isomeric fragment ions. This mechanistic insight enables the characterization of unique IMS arrival-time distributions of the isomers which can be used to accurately determine fucosyl positions in glycans.

Microfluidic Separation Coupled to Mass Spectrometry for Quantification of Peanut Allergens in a Complex Food Matrix.

Peanut is an important food allergen, but it cannot currently be reliably detected and quantified in processed foods at low levels. A level of 3 mg protein/kg is increasingly being used as a reference dose above which precautionary allergen labeling is applied to food products. Two exemplar matrices (chocolate dessert and chocolate bar) were prepared and incurred with 0, 3, 10, or 50 mg/kg peanut protein using a commercially available lightly roasted peanut flour ingredient. After simple buffer extraction employing an acid-labile detergent, multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) experiments were used to assess matrix effects on the detection of a set of seven peptide targets derived from peanut allergens using either conventional or microfluidic chromatographic separation prior to mass spectrometry. Microfluidic separation provided greater sensitivity and increased ionization efficiency at low levels. Individual monitored transitions were detected in consistent ratios across the dilution series, independent of matrix. The peanut protein content of each sample was then determined using ELISA and the optimized MRM method. Although other peptide targets were detected with three transitions at the 50 mg/kg peanut protein level in both matrices, only Arah2(Q6PSU2)147-155 could be quantified reliably and only in the chocolate dessert at 10 mg/kg peanut protein. Recoveries were consistent with ELISA analysis returning around 30-50% of the incurred dose. MS coupled with microfluidic separation shows great promise as a complementary analytical tool for allergen detection and quantification in complex foods using a simple extraction methodology.

Scanning Quadrupole Data-Independent Acquisition, Part A: Qualitative and Quantitative Characterization.

A novel data-independent acquisition (DIA) method incorporating a scanning quadrupole in front of a collision cell and orthogonal acceleration time-of-flight mass analyzer is described. The method has been characterized for the qualitative and quantitative label-free proteomic analysis of complex biological samples. The principle of the scanning quadrupole DIA method is discussed, and analytical instrument characteristics, such as the quadrupole transmission width, scan/integration time, and chromatographic separation, have been optimized in relation to sample complexity for a number of different model proteomes of varying complexity and dynamic range including human plasma, cell lines, and bacteria. In addition, the technological merits over existing DIA approaches are described and contrasted. The qualitative and semiquantitative performance of the method is illustrated for the analysis of relatively simple protein digest mixtures and a well-characterized human cell line sample using untargeted and targeted search strategies. Finally, the results from a human cell line were compared against publicly available data that used similar chromatographic conditions but were acquired with DDA technology and alternative mass analyzer systems. Qualitative comparison showed excellent concordance of results with >90% overlap of the detected proteins.

Scanning Quadrupole Data-Independent Acquisition, Part B: Application to the Analysis of the Calcineurin-Interacting Proteins during Treatment of Aspergillus fumigatus with Azole and Echinocandin Antifungal Drugs.

Calcineurin is a critical cell-signaling protein that orchestrates growth, stress response, virulence, and antifungal drug resistance in several fungal pathogens. Blocking calcineurin signaling increases the efficacy of several currently available antifungals and suppresses drug resistance. We demonstrate the application of a novel scanning quadrupole DIA method for the analysis of changes in the proteins coimmunoprecipitated with calcineurin during therapeutic antifungal drug treatments of the deadly human fungal pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus. Our experimental design afforded an assessment of the precision of the method as demonstrated by peptide- and protein-centric analysis from eight replicates of the study pool QC samples. Two distinct classes of clinically relevant antifungal drugs that are guideline recommended for the treatment of invasive "aspergillosis" caused by Aspergillus fumigatus, the azoles (voriconazole) and the echinocandins (caspofungin and micafungin), which specifically target the fungal plasma membrane and the fungal cell wall, respectively, were chosen to distinguish variations occurring in the proteins coimmunoprecipitated with calcineurin. Novel potential interactors were identified in response to the different drug treatments that are indicative of the possible role for calcineurin in regulating these effectors. Notably, treatment with voriconazole showed increased immunoprecipitation of key proteins involved in membrane ergosterol biosynthesis with calcineurin. In contrast, echinocandin (caspofungin or micafungin) treatments caused increased immunoprecipitation of proteins involved in cell-wall biosynthesis and septation. Furthermore, abundant coimmunoprecipitation of ribosomal proteins with calcineurin occurred exclusively in echinocandins treatment, indicating reprogramming of cellular growth mechanisms during different antifungal drug treatments. While variations in the observed calcineurin immunoprecipitated proteins may also be due to changes in their expression levels under different drug treatments, this study suggests an important role for calcineurin-dependent cellular mechanisms in response to antifungal treatment of A. fumigatus that warrants future studies.

Lipid profiling of complex biological mixtures by liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry using a novel scanning quadrupole data-independent acquisition strategy.

RATIONALE: A novel data-independent acquisition method is detailed that incorporates a scanning quadrupole in front of an orthogonal acceleration time-of-flight (TOF) mass analyser. This approach is described and the attributes are compared and contrasted to other DIA approaches. METHODS: Specific application of the method to both targeted and untargeted lipidomic identification strategies is discussed, with data from both shotgun and LC separated lipidomics experiments presented. RESULTS: The benefits of the fast quadrupole scanning technique are highlighted, and include improvements in speed and specificity for complex mixtures providing high quality qualitative and quantitative data. CONCLUSIONS: In particular the high specificity afforded by the scanning quadrupole improves qualitative information for lipid identification.

Advances in quadrupole and time-of-flight mass spectrometry for peptide MRM based translational research analysis.

The application of unit resolution tandem quadrupole and high-resolution orthogonal acceleration ToF mass spectrometers for the quantitation and translational analysis of proteolytic peptides is described. The MS platforms were contrasted in terms of sensitivity and linear response. Moreover, the selectivity of the platforms was investigated and the effect on quantitative precision studied. Chromatographic LC conditions, including gradient length and configuration, were investigated with respect to speed/throughput, while minimizing isobaric interferences, thereby providing information with regard to practical sample cohort size limitations of LC-MS for large cohort experiments. In addition to these fundamental analytical performance metrics, precision and linear dynamic ranges were also studied. An LC-MS configuration that encompasses the best combination of throughput and analytical accuracy for translational studies was chosen, despite the MS platforms giving similar quantitative performance, and instances were identified where alternative combinations were found to be beneficial. This configuration was utilized to demonstrate that proteolytically digested nondepleted samples from heart failure patients could be classified with good discriminative power using a subset of proteins previously suggested as candidate biomarkers for cardiovascular diseases.

Multi-mode acquisition (MMA): An MS/MS acquisition strategy for maximizing selectivity, specificity and sensitivity of DIA product ion spectra.

In proteomics studies, it is generally accepted that depth of coverage and dynamic range is limited in data-directed acquisitions. The serial nature of the method limits both sensitivity and the number of precursor ions that can be sampled. To that end, a number of data-independent acquisition (DIA) strategies have been introduced with these methods, for the most part, immune to the sampling issue; nevertheless, some do have other limitations with respect to sensitivity. The major limitation with DIA approaches is interference, i.e., MS/MS spectra are highly chimeric and often incapable of being identified using conventional database search engines. Utilizing each available dimension of separation prior to ion detection, we present a new multi-mode acquisition (MMA) strategy multiplexing both narrowband and wideband DIA acquisitions in a single analytical workflow. The iterative nature of the MMA workflow limits the adverse effects of interference with minimal loss in sensitivity. Qualitative identification can be performed by selected ion chromatograms or conventional database search strategies.

Quantitative Proteomic Profiling of Peanut Allergens in Food Ingredients Used for Oral Food Challenges.

Profiling allergens in complex food ingredients used in oral food challenges and immunotherapy is crucial for regulatory acceptance. Mass spectrometry based analysis employing data-independent acquisition coupled with ion mobility mass spectrometry-mass spectrometry (DIA-IM-MS) was used to investigate the allergen composition of raw peanuts and roasted peanut flour ingredients used in challenge meals. This comprehensive qualitative and quantitative analysis using label-free approaches identified and quantified 123 unique protein accessions. Semiquantitative analysis indicated that allergens Ara h 1 and Ara h 3 were the most abundant proteins and present in approximately equal amounts and were extracted in reduced amounts from roasted peanut flours. The clinically significant allergens Ara h 2 and 6 were less abundant, but relative quantification was unaffected by roasting. Ara h 5 was undetectable in any peanut sample, while the Bet v 1 homologue Ara h 8 and the lipid transfer protein allergen, Ara h 9, were detected in low abundance. The oleosin allergens, Ara h 10 and 11, were moderately abundant in the raw peanuts but were 100-fold less abundant in the defatted roasted peanut flour than the major allergens Ara h 1, 3, 2, and 6. Certain isoforms of the major allergens dominated the profile. The relative quantitation of the major peanut allergens showed little variation between different batches of roasted peanut flour. These data will support future development of targeted approaches for absolute quantification of peanut allergens which can be applied to both food ingredients used in clinical studies and extracts used for skin testing and to identify trace levels of allergens in foods.

Ion mobility tandem mass spectrometry enhances performance of bottom-up proteomics.

One of the limiting factors in determining the sensitivity of tandem mass spectrometry using hybrid quadrupole orthogonal acceleration time-of-flight instruments is the duty cycle of the orthogonal ion injection system. As a consequence, only a fraction of the generated fragment ion beam is collected by the time-of-flight analyzer. Here we describe a method utilizing postfragmentation ion mobility spectrometry of peptide fragment ions in conjunction with mobility time synchronized orthogonal ion injection leading to a substantially improved duty cycle and a concomitant improvement in sensitivity of up to 10-fold for bottom-up proteomic experiments. This enabled the identification of 7500 human proteins within 1 day and 8600 phosphorylation sites within 5 h of LC-MS/MS time. The method also proved powerful for multiplexed quantification experiments using tandem mass tags exemplified by the chemoproteomic interaction analysis of histone deacetylases with Trichostatin A.

Label-free mass spectrometric profiling of urinary proteins and metabolites from paediatric idiopathic nephrotic syndrome.

Idiopathic nephrotic syndrome (INS) is caused by renal diseases that increase the permeability of the glomerular filtration barrier without evidence of a specific systemic cause. The aim of the present work was to reveal inherent molecular features of INS in children using combined urinary proteomics and metabolomics profiling. In this study, label-free mass spectrometric analysis of urinary proteins and small molecule metabolites was carried out in 12 patients with INS versus 12 sex- and age-matched control subjects with normal renal function. Integration and biological interpretation of obtained results were carried out by Ingenuity IPA software. Validation of obtained proteomics data was carried out by Western blot method. Proteomics data have been deposited to the ProteomeXchange Consortium with the data set identifier PXD000765. This study indicates for the first time that paediatric INS is associated with up-regulation of afamin, hydroxyphenylacetate and uridine, and concomitant down-regulation in glutamine and phenylalanine levels, and many of these molecular species were previously shown to be involved in oxidative stress. Further studies in larger patient population are underway to investigate the role of oxidative stress in renal injury in paediatric INS.

Multimodal Mass Spectrometry Imaging of an Osteosarcoma Multicellular Tumour Spheroid Model to Investigate Drug-Induced Response.

A multimodal mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) approach was used to investigate the chemotherapy drug-induced response of a Multicellular Tumour Spheroid (MCTS) 3D cell culture model of osteosarcoma (OS). The work addresses the critical demand for enhanced translatable early drug discovery approaches by demonstrating a robust spatially resolved molecular distribution analysis in tumour models following chemotherapeutic intervention. Advanced high-resolution techniques were employed, including desorption electrospray ionisation (DESI) mass spectrometry imaging (MSI), to assess the interplay between metabolic and cellular pathways in response to chemotherapeutic intervention. Endogenous metabolite distributions of the human OS tumour models were complemented with subcellularly resolved protein localisation by the detection of metal-tagged antibodies using Imaging Mass Cytometry (IMC). The first application of matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-immunohistochemistry (MALDI-IHC) of 3D cell culture models is reported here. Protein localisation and expression following an acute dosage of the chemotherapy drug doxorubicin demonstrated novel indications for mechanisms of region-specific tumour survival and cell-cycle-specific drug-induced responses. Previously unknown doxorubicin-induced metabolite upregulation was revealed by DESI-MSI of MCTSs, which may be used to inform mechanisms of chemotherapeutic resistance. The demonstration of specific tumour survival mechanisms that are characteristic of those reported for in vivo tumours has underscored the increasing value of this approach as a tool to investigate drug resistance.

Novel Hybrid Quadrupole-Multireflecting Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry System.

A novel mass spectrometry system is described here comprising a quadrupole-multireflecting time-of-flight design. The new multireflecting time-of-flight analyzer has an effective path length of 48 m and employs planar, gridless ion mirrors providing fourth-order energy focusing resulting in resolving power over 200 000 fwhm and sub-ppm mass accuracy. We show how these attributes are maintained with relatively fast acquisition speeds, setting the system apart from other high resolution mass spectrometers. We have integrated this new system into both liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and mass spectrometry imaging workflows to demonstrate how the instrument characteristics are of benefit to these applications.

Using ion purity scores for enhancing quantitative accuracy and precision in complex proteomics samples.

To accurately determine the quantitative change of peptides and proteins in complex proteomics samples requires knowledge of how well each ion has been measured. The precision of each ions' calculated area is predicated on how uniquely it occupies its own space in m/z and elution time. Given an initial assumption that prior to the addition of the "heavy" label, all other ion detections are unique, which is arguably untrue, an initial attempt at quantifying the pervasiveness of ion interference events in a representative binary SILAC experiment was made by comparing the centered m/z and retention time of the ion detections from the "light" variant to its "heavy" companion. Ion interference rates were determined for LC-MS data acquired at mass resolving powers of 20 and 40 K with and without ion mobility separation activated. An ion interference event was recorded, if present in the companion dataset was an ion within ± its Δ mass at half-height, ±15 s of its apex retention time and if utilized by ±1 drift bin. Data are presented illustrating a definitive decrease in the frequency of ion interference events with each additional increase in selectivity of the analytical workflow. Regardless of whether the quantitative experiment is a composite of labeled samples or label free, how well each ion is measured can be determined given knowledge of the instruments mass resolving power across the entire m/z scale and the ion detection algorithm reporting both the centered m/z and Δ mass at half-height for each detected ion. Given these measurements, an effective resolution can be calculated and compared with the expected instrument performance value providing a purity score for the calculated ions' area based on mass resolution. Similarly, chromatographic and drift purity scores can be calculated. In these instances, the error associated to an ions' calculated peak area is estimated by examining the variation in each measured width to that of their respective experimental median. Detail will be disclosed as to how a final ion purity score was established, providing a first measure of how accurately each ions' area was determined as well as how precise the calculated quantitative change between labeled or unlabelled pairs were determined. Presented is how common ion interference events are in quantitative proteomics LC-MS experiments and how ion purity filters can be utilized to overcome and address them, providing ultimately more accurate and precise quantification results across a wider dynamic range.

Simulating and validating proteomics data and search results.

The computational simulation of complete proteomic data sets and their utility to validate detection and interpretation algorithms, to aid in the design of experiments and to assess protein and peptide false discovery rates is presented. The simulation software has been developed for emulating data originating from data-dependent and data-independent LC-MS workflows. Data from all types of commonly used hybrid mass spectrometers can be simulated. The algorithms are based on empirically derived physicochemical liquid and gas phase models for proteins and peptides. Sample composition in terms of complexity and dynamic range, as well as chromatographic, experimental and MS conditions, can be controlled and adjusted independently. The effect of on-column amounts, gradient length, mass resolution and ion mobility on search specificity will be demonstrated using tryptic peptides from human and yeast cellular lysates simulated over five orders of magnitude in dynamic range. Initial justification of the simulated data sets is achieved by comparing and contrasting the in silico simulated data to experimentally derived results from a 48 protein mixture, spanning a similar magnitude of five orders of magnitude. Additionally, experimental data from replicate and dilutions series experiments will be utilized to determine error rates at the peptide and protein level with respect to mass, area, retention and drift time. The data presented reveal a high degree of similarity at the ion detection, peptide and protein level when analyzed under similar conditions.

Mass spectrometric detection of KRAS protein mutations using molecular imprinting.

Cancer is a disease of cellular evolution where single base changes in the genetic code can have significant impact on the translation of proteins and their activity. Thus, in cancer research there is significant interest in methods that can determine mutations and identify the significant binding sites (epitopes) of antibodies to proteins in order to develop novel therapies. Nano molecularly imprinted polymers (nanoMIPs) provide an alternative to antibodies as reagents capable of specifically capturing target molecules depending on their structure. In this study, we used nanoMIPs to capture KRAS, a critical oncogene, to identify mutations which when present are indicative of oncological progress. Herein, coupling nanoMIPs (capture) and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (detection), LC-MS has allowed us to investigate mutational assignment and epitope discovery. Specifically, we have shown epitope discovery by generating nanoMIPs to a recombinant KRAS protein and identifying three regions of the protein which have been previously assigned as epitopes using much more time-consuming protocols. The mutation status of the released tryptic peptide was identified by LC-MS following capture of the conserved region of KRAS using nanoMIPS, which were tryptically digested, thus releasing the sequence of a non-conserved (mutated) region. This approach was tested in cell lines where we showed the effective genotyping of a KRAS cell line and in the plasma of cancer patients, thus demonstrating its ability to diagnose precisely the mutational status of a patient. This work provides a clear line-of-sight for the use of nanoMIPs to its translation from research into diagnostic and clinical utility.