Versatile online-offline engine for automated acquisition of high-resolution tandem mass spectra

Anal Chem. 2008 Nov 1;80(21):8055-63. doi: 10.1021/ac8010704. Epub 2008 Oct 8.

Abstract

For automated production of tandem mass spectrometric data for proteins and peptides >3 kDa at >50 000 resolution, a dual online-offline approach is presented here that improves upon standard liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) strategies. An integrated hardware and software infrastructure analyzes online LC-MS data and intelligently determines which targets to interrogate offline using a posteriori knowledge such as prior observation, identification, and degree of characterization. This platform represents a way to implement accurate mass inclusion and exclusion lists in the context of a proteome project, automating collection of high-resolution MS/MS data that cannot currently be acquired on a chromatographic time scale at equivalent spectral quality. For intact proteins from an acid extract of human nuclei fractionated by reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RPLC), the automated offline system generated 57 successful identifications of protein forms arising from 30 distinct genes, a substantial improvement over online LC-MS/MS using the same 12 T LTQ FT Ultra instrument. Analysis of human nuclei subjected to a shotgun Lys-C digest using the same RPLC/automated offline sampling identified 147 unique peptides containing 29 co- and post-translational modifications. Expectation values ranged from 10 (-5) to 10 (-99), allowing routine multiplexed identifications.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • HeLa Cells
  • Humans
  • Internet / instrumentation*
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Proteins / analysis
  • Proteins / chemistry
  • Proteomics
  • Tandem Mass Spectrometry / instrumentation*
  • Tandem Mass Spectrometry / methods*

Substances

  • Proteins