Procedure providing SI-traceable results for the calibration of protein standards by sulfur determination and its application on tau.

Quantitative proteomics is a growing research area and one of the most important tools in the life sciences. Well-characterized and quantified protein standards are needed to achieve accurate and reliable results. However, only a limited number of sufficiently characterized protein standards are currently available. To fill this gap, a method for traceable protein quantification using sulfur isotope dilution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was developed in this study. Gel filtration and membrane filtration were tested for the separation of non-protein-bound sulfur in the protein solution. Membrane filtration demonstrated a better performance due to the lower workload and the very low sulfur blanks of 11 ng, making it well suited for high-purity proteins such as NIST SRM 927, a bovine serum albumin (BSA). The method development was accomplished with NIST SRM 927e and a commercial avidin. The quantified mass fraction of NIST SRM 927e agreed very well with the certified value and showed similar uncertainties (3.6%) as established methods while requiring less sample preparation and no species-specific standards. Finally, the developed procedure was applied to the tau protein, which is a biomarker for a group of neurodegenerative diseases denoted "tauopathies" including, e.g., Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia. For the absolute quantification of tau in the brain of transgenic mice overexpressing human tau, a well-defined calibration standard was needed. Therefore, a pure tau solution was quantified, yielding a protein mass fraction of (0.328 ± 0.036) g/kg, which was confirmed by amino acid analysis.

Determination of the protein content of complex samples by aromatic amino acid analysis, liquid chromatography-UV absorbance, and colorimetry.

Fast and accurate determination of the protein content of a sample is an important and non-trivial task of many biochemical, biomedical, food chemical, pharmaceutical, and environmental research activities. Different methods of total protein determination are used for a wide range of proteins with highly variable properties in complex matrices. These methods usually work reasonably well for proteins under controlled conditions, but the results for non-standard and complex samples are often questionable. Here, we compare new and well-established methods, including traditional amino acid analysis (AAA), aromatic amino acid analysis (AAAA) based on the amino acids phenylalanine and tyrosine, reversed-phase liquid chromatography of intact proteins with UV absorbance measurements at 220 and 280 nm (LC-220, LC-280), and colorimetric assays like Coomassie Blue G-250 dye-binding assay (Bradford) and bicinchoninic acid (BCA) assay. We investigated different samples, including proteins with challenging properties, chemical modifications, mixtures, and complex matrices like air particulate matter and pollen extracts. All methods yielded accurate and precise results for the protein and matrix used for calibration. AAA, AAAA with fluorescence detection, and the LC-220 method yielded robust results even under more challenging conditions (variable analytes and matrices). These methods turned out to be well-suited for reliable determination of the protein content in a wide range of samples, such as air particulate matter and pollen.

Tailored Mobility in a Zeolite Imidazolate Framework (ZIF) Antibody Conjugate*.

Zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF) hybrid fluorescent nanoparticles and ZIF antibody conjugates have been synthesized, characterized, and employed in lateral-flow immunoassay (LFIA). The bright fluorescence of the conjugates and the possibility to tailor their mobility gives a huge potential for diagnostic assays. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with horseradish peroxidase (HRP) as label, proved the integrity, stability, and dispersibility of the antibody conjugates, LC-MS/MS provided evidence that a covalent link was established between these metal-organic frameworks and lysine residues in IgG antibodies.

Quantitative 1H Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (qNMR) of Aromatic Amino Acids for Protein Quantification.

Hydrolysis of protein samples into amino acids facilitates the use of NMR spectroscopy for protein and peptide quantification. Different conditions have been tested for quantifying aromatic amino acids and proteins. The pH-dependent signal shifts in the aromatic region of amino acid samples were examined. A pH of 12 was found to minimize signal overlap of the four aromatic amino acids. Several aromatic compounds, such as terephthalic acid, sulfoisophthalic acid, and benzene tricarboxylic acid, were applied as internal standards. The quantification of amino acids from an amino acid standard was performed. Using the first two suggested internal standards, recovery was ~97% for histidine, phenylalanine, and tyrosine at a concentration of approximately 1 mM in solution. Acidic hydrolysis of a certified reference material (CRM) of bovine serum albumin (BSA) and subsequent quantification of Phe and Tyr yielded recoveries of 98% ± 2% and 88% ± 4%, respectively, at a protein concentration of 16 g/L or 250 µM.