MALDI-MS Analysis of Peptides

About

Technology Dr. Sankaran Thayumanavan has developed novel amphiphilic polymers capable of forming self-assembled micelle and reverse-micelle type nanostructures. These amphiphilic polymers can be used to selectively extract and enrich peptides from complex mixtures for highly enhanced analysis by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS). The selectivity of peptide extraction is based on the difference in isoelectric points of the peptide analytes. When peptides are extracted by the amphiphilic polymers and detected by MALDI-MS in the presence of the polymers, peptide-ion signals can be enhanced by 3-5 orders of magnitude. This enormous signal enhancement enables the MALDI-MS analysis of peptides present at very low concentrations and protein digests of highly complex biological samples.