Colleen K. Van Pelt

Chip-based nanoelectrospray mass spectrometry for protein characterization

In the last several years, significant progress has been made in the development of microfluidic-based analytical technologies for proteomic and drug discovery applications. Chip-based nanoelectrospray coupled to a mass spectrometer detector is one of the recently developed analytical microscale technologies. This technology offers unique advantages for automated nanoelectrospray including reduced sample consumption, improved detection sensitivity and enhanced data quality for proteomic studies. This review presents an overview and introduction of recent developments in chip devices coupled to electrospray mass spectrometers including the development of the automated nanoelectrospray ionization chip device for protein characterization. Applications using automated chip-based nanoelectrospray ionization technology in proteomic and bioanalytical studies are also extensively reviewed in the fields of high-throughput protein identification, protein post-translational modification studies, top-down proteomics, biomarker screening by pattern recognition, noncovalent protein–ligand binding for drug discovery and lipid analysis. Additionally, future trends in chip-based nanoelectrospray technology are discussed.

Development and Characterization of a Novel Plug and Play Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS) Source That Automates Connections between the Capillary Trap, Column, and Emitter

We report the development and characterization of a novel, vendor-neutral ultra-high pressure-compatible (∼10,000 p.s.i.) LC-MS source. This device is the first to make automated connections with user-packed capillary traps, columns, and capillary emitters. The source uses plastic rectangular inserts (referred to here as cartridges) where individual components (i.e. trap, column, or emitter) can be exchanged independent of one another in a plug and play manner. Automated robotic connections are made between the three cartridges using linear translation powered by stepper motors to axially compress each cartridge by applying a well controlled constant compression force to each commercial LC fitting. The user has the versatility to tailor the separation (e.g. the length of the column, type of stationary phase, and mode of separation) to the experimental design of interest in a cost-effective manner. The source is described in detail, and several experiments are performed to evaluate the robustness of both the system and the exchange of the individual trap and emitter cartridges. The standard deviation in the retention time of four targeted peptides from a standard digest interlaced with a soluble Caenorhabditis elegans lysate ranged between 3.1 and 5.3 s over 3 days of analyses. Exchange of the emitter cartridge was found to have an insignificant effect on the abundance of various peptides. In addition, the trap cartridge can be replaced with minimal effects on retention time (<20 s).

Integrated microchip-based nanoelectrospray device for high-throughput mass spectrometry

The emerging field of microfluidics may provide for the rapid, automated analysis of samples. Here we describe the microfabrication and operation of a nanoelectrospray device formed from the planar surface of a monolithic silicon substrate for electrospray mass spectrometry sample analysis at low nanoliter per minute flow rates. To generate a useful electrospray from a microchip, a high aspect ratio nozzle structure of small dimensions is required. Deep reactive ion etching technologies allow these high aspect ratio structures to be fabricated in parallel and are widely available for the etching of silicon.