Fast Enzymatic Processing of Proteins for MS Detection with a Flow-through Microreactor

Summary

A quick protocol for proteolytic digestion with an in-house built flow-through tryptic microreactor coupled to an electrospray ionization (ESI) mass spectrometer is presented. The fabrication of the microreactor, the experimental setup and the data acquisition process are described.

Abstract

The vast majority of mass spectrometry (MS)-based protein analysis methods involve an enzymatic digestion step prior to detection, typically with trypsin. This step is necessary for the generation of small molecular weight peptides, generally with MW < 3,000-4,000 Da, that fall within the effective scan range of mass spectrometry instrumentation. Conventional protocols involve O/N enzymatic digestion at 37 ºC. Recent advances have led to the development of a variety of strategies, typically involving the use of a microreactor with immobilized enzymes or of a range of complementary physical processes that reduce the time necessary for proteolytic digestion to a few minutes (e.g., microwave or high-pressure). In this work, we describe a simple and cost-effective approach that can be implemented in any laboratory for achieving fast enzymatic digestion of a protein. The protein (or protein mixture) is adsorbed on C18-bonded reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) silica particles preloaded in a capillary column, and trypsin in aqueous buffer is infused over the particles for a short period of time. To enable on-line MS detection, the tryptic peptides are eluted with a solvent system with increased organic content directly in the MS ion source. This approach avoids the use of high-priced immobilized enzyme particles and does not necessitate any aid for completing the process. Protein digestion and complete sample analysis can be accomplished in less than ~3 min and ~30 min, respectively.

Introduction

The identification and characterization of purified proteins is frequently achieved by using MS techniques. The protein is digested with an enzyme and its peptides are further analyzed by MS by using a simple infusion experimental setup. Proteolytic digestion is necessary for generating small peptide fragments that fall in the useful mass range of most MS analyzers, and that can be easily fragmented through low energy collision induced dissociation to generate amino acid sequence information. For isolated proteins or simple protein mixtures, there is no further need for chromatographic separation of peptides prior to MS detection. A mixture of 25-50 peptides can be ea....

Protocol

1. Preparation of the Capillary Microreactor

1. Cut the 100 µm internal diameter (ID) x 360 µm outer diameter (OD) capillary to a length of 7-8 cm, and the 20 µm ID x 90 µm OD capillary to 3-5 cm with the glass capillary cleaver; verify under the microscope that both capillary ends have a clean, straight cut, without any protruding burrs.
2. Insert the 20 µm ID x 90 µm OD capillary into one end of the 100 µm ID x 360 µm OD capillary, for a length of ~6 mm; in case of need, observe this operation under a microscope.
3. Apply a small droplet of glue E6000 around the junction of the 90 µm OD/100 µm ....

Results

A representative result of a proteolytic digestion process performed simultaneously on a mixture of proteins, with the above-described microreactors (Figures 1 or 2), is provided in Table 1. The table comprises the unique peptide sequences that identify a particular protein, the cross correlation score (Xcorr) (i.e., a score that characterizes the quality of the experimental-to-theoretical match for the corresponding tandem mass spectrum), the nu.......

Discussion

The microreactor described in this work provides an easy-to-implement experimental setup for performing enzymatic digestion of proteins to enable MS analysis and identification in less than 30 min. The distinct advantages of this system, in comparison to conventional approaches, include simplicity, speed, low reagent consumption and low costs. In particular, there is no need for expensive immobilized trypsin beads and cartridges. The preparation of the capillary microreactor is straightforward (Figure 1A.......

Materials

List of materials used in this article

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
Ion trap ESI-MS	Thermo Electron	LTQ	The LTQ mass spectrometer is used for acquiring tandem MS data
XYZ stage	Newport	Multiple parts	The home-built XYZ stage is used to adapt the commercial LTQ nano-ESI source to receive input from various sample delivery systems
Stereo microscope	Edmund optics	G81-278	The microscope is used to observe the microreactor packing process
Analytical balance/Metler	VWR	46600-204	The balance is used to weigh the protein samples
Ultrasonic bath/Branson	VWR	33995-540	The sonic bath is used for mixing/homogenizing the samples and dispersing the C18 particle slurry
Syringe pump 22	Harvard Apparatus	552222	The micropump is used for loading, rinsing and eluting the sample and the enzyme on and from the packed capillary microreactor
Milli-Q ultrapure water system	EMD Millipore	ZD5311595	The MilliQ water system is used to prepare purified DI water
Pipettor/Eppendorf (1,000 µl)	VWR	53513-410	The pipettor is used to measure small volumes of sample solutions
Pipettor/Eppendorf (100 µl)	VWR	53513-406	The pipettor is used to measure small volumes of sample solutions
Pipettor/Eppendorf (10 µl)	VWR	53513-402	The pipettor is used to measure small volumes of sample solutions
Fused silica capillary (100 µm ID x 360 µm OD)	Polymicro Technologies	TSP100375	This capillary is used for the fabrication of the microreactor
Fused silica capillary (20 µm ID x 100 µm OD)	Polymicro Technologies	TSP020090	This capillary is used for the fabrication of the ESI emitter
Fused silica capillary (50 µm ID x 360 µm OD)	Polymicro Technologies	TSP050375	This capillary is used to transfer the samples and the eluent from the syringe pump to the capillary microreactor
Glass capillary cleaver	Supelco	23740-U	This is a tool for cutting fused silica capillaries at the desired length
Glue	Eclectic Products	E6000 Craft	This glue is used for securing the ESI emitter into the capillary microreactor or the microfluidic chip
Epoxy glue	Epo-Tek	353NDT	This glue is used to seal the microfluidic inlet hole through which the C18 particles are loaded
Reversed phase C18 particles (5 µm)	Agilent Technologies	Zorbax 300SB-C18	These are C18 particles on which the proteins are adsorbed; the particles were extracted from a 4 mm x 20 cm C18 LC column from Agilent
Syringe/glass (250 µl)	Hamilton	81130-1725RN	The glass syringes are used to load the C18 particle slurry in the capillary microreactor and to deliver the sample and eluents to the microreactor
Internal reducing PEEK Union (1/16” to 1/32”)	Valco	ZRU1.5FPK	This union is used to connect the 250 µl syringe to the microreactor for loading the 5 µm particle slurry
Stainless steel union (1/16”)	Valco	ZU1XC	The stainless steel union is used to connect the glass syringe needle to the infusion capillary
Microvolume PEEK Tee connector (1/32”)	Valco	MT.5XCPK	The Peek tee is used to connect the sample transfer capillary to the capillary microreactor; on its side arm, it enables the insertion of the Pt wire
Tee connector (light weight)	Valco	C-NTXFPK	This Tee connector is used to apply ESI voltage to the microfluidic chip through the sample transfer line
Pt wire (0.404 mm)	VWR	66260-126	The Pt wire provides electrical connection for ESI generation and is connected to the mass spectrometer ESI power supply
PTFE tubing (1/16” OD)	Valco	TTF115-10FT	The Teflon tubing is used to enable an air-tight connection between the syringe needle and the stainless steel union
PEEK tubing (0.015” ID x 1/16” OD)	Upchurch Scientific	1565	The Peek tubing is used as a sleeve to enable an air-tight connection between the stainless steel union and the 50 µm ID transfer capillary
PEEK tubing (0.015” ID x 1/32” OD)	Valco	TPK.515-25	The Peek tubing is used as a sleeve to enable a leak-free connection between the fused silica capillaries and the Peek Tee
Clean-cut polymer tubing cutter	Valco	JR-797	This cutter is used to pre-cut the 1/16” and 1/32’ Peek polymer tubing that is used as sleeve for leak-free connections in pieces of ~4-5 cm in length
Amber vial (2 ml)	Agilent	HP-5183-2069	The vials are used to prepare sample solutions and the C18 particle slurry
Amber vial (4 ml)	VWR	66011-948	The vials are used to prepare sample solutions
Polypropylene tube (15 ml)	Fisher	12-565-286D	The vials are used to prepare buffer solutions
Cylinder (100 ml)	VWR	24710-463	The cylinder is used to measure volumes of solvent
Cylinder (10 ml)	VWR	24710-441	The cylinder is used to measure volumes of solvent
Pipette tips (1,000 µl)	VWR	83007-386	The pipette tips are used to measure small volumes of sample solutions
Pipette tips (100 µl)	VWR	53503-781	The pipette tips are used to measure small volumes of sample solutions
Pipette tips (10 µl)	VWR	53511-681	The pipette tips are used to measure small volumes of sample solutions
Glass substrates	Nanofilm	B270 white crown, 3” x 3”	These are glass substrates for microchip fabrication
Male nut fitting (1/16”)	Upchurch	P203X	This fitting is used for connecting transfer capillaries to the microfluidic chip
Nanoport assembly	Upchurch	N-122H	This fitting is used for connecting transfer capillaries to the microfluidic chip
Protein standards	Sigma	Multiple #
Acetonitrile, HPLC grade	Fisher	A955
Methanol, HPLC grade	Fisher	A452
Isopropanol, HPLC grade	Sigma	650447
Trifluoroacetic acid	Sigma	302031
Ammonium bicarbonate	Aldrich	A6141
Trypsin, sequencing grade	Promega	V5111