MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometry (MS) has developed during the past decade into a versatile tool for biopolymer analysis. The aim of this review is to summarize this development and outline the applications, which have been enabled for routine use in the field of nucleic acid analysis. These include the anlaysis of mutations, the resequencing of amplicons with a known reference sequence, and the quantitative analysis of gene expression and allelic frequencies in complex DNA mixtures.     

Single-nucleotide polymorphism analysis by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry

Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have great potential for use in genetic-mapping studies, which locate and characterize genes that are important in human disease and biological function. For SNPs to realize their full potential in genetic analysis, thousands of different SNP loci must be screened in a rapid, accurate and cost-effective manner. Matrix-assisted laser desorption-ionization-time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry is a promising tool for the high-throughput screening of SNPs, with future prospects for use in genetic analysis.     

Analysis of tryptophan surface accessibility in proteins by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry

Surface accessible amino acids can play an important role in proteins. They can participate in enzyme's active center structure or in specific intermolecular interactions. Thus, the information about selected amino acids' surface accessibility can contribute to the understanding of protein structure and function. In this paper, we present a simple method for surface accessibility mapping of tryptophan side chains by their chemical modification and identification by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. The reaction with 2-hydroxy-5-nitrobenzyl bromide, a common and highly specific covalent modification of tryptophan, seems to be very useful for this purpose. The method was tested on four model proteins with known spatial structure. In the native proteins (1) only surface accessible tryptophan side chains were found to react with the modification agent and (2) no buried one was found to react at lower reagent concentrations. These results indicate that the described method can be a potent tool for identification of surface-located tryptophan side chain in a protein of unknown conformation.     

Identification of fungal microorganisms by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) has emerged as a reliable tool for fast identification and classification of microorganisms. In this regard, it represents a strong challenge to microscopic and molecular biology methods. Nowadays, commercial MALDI systems are accessible for biological research work as well as for diagnostic applications in clinical medicine, biotechnology and industry. They are employed namely in bacterial biotyping but numerous experimental strategies have also been developed for the analysis of fungi, which is the topic of the present review. Members of many fungal genera such as Aspergillus, Fusarium, Penicillium or Trichoderma and also various yeasts from clinical samples (e.g. Candida albicans) have been successfully identified by MALDI-TOF MS. However, there is no versatile method for fungi currently available even though the use of only a limited number of matrix compounds has been reported. Either intact cell/spore MALDI-TOF MS is chosen or an extraction of surface proteins is performed and then the resulting extract is measured. Biotrophic fungal phytopathogens can be identified via a direct acquisition of MALDI-TOF mass spectra e.g. from infected plant organs contaminated by fungal spores. Mass spectrometric peptide/protein profiles of fungi display peaks in the m/z region of 1000–20 000, where a unique set of biomarker ions may appear facilitating a differentiation of samples at the level of genus, species or strain. This is done with the help of a processing software and spectral database of reference strains, which should preferably be constructed under the same standardized experimental conditions.     

Tyrosine residues modification studied by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry

Amino acid residue-specific reactivity in proteins is of great current interest in structural biology as it provides information about solvent accessibility and reactivity of the residue and, consequently, about protein structure and possible interactions. In the work presented tyrosine residues of three model proteins with known spatial structure are modified with two tyrosine-specific reagents: tetranitromethane and iodine. Modified proteins were specifically digested by proteases and the mass of resulting peptide fragments was determined using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Our results show that there are only small differences in the extent of tyrosine residues modification by tetranitromethane and iodine. However, data dealing with accessibility of reactive residues obtained by chemical modifications are not completely identical with those obtained by nuclear magnetic resonance and X-ray crystallography. These interesting discrepancies can be caused by local molecular dynamics and/or by specific chemical structure of the residues surrounding.     

High-resolution human papillomavirus genotyping by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry

We describe a matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry (MS)-based assay for human papillomavirus (HPV) genotyping--the restriction fragment mass polymorphism (RFMP) assay, which is based on mass measurement of genotype-specific oligonucleotide fragments generated by TypeIIS restriction endonuclease cleavage after recognition sites have been introduced by PCR amplification. The use of a TypeIIS restriction enzyme makes the RFMP assay independent of sequence and applicable to a wide variety of HPV genotypes, because these enzymes have cleavage sites at a fixed distance from their recognition sites. After PCR amplification, samples are subjected to restriction enzyme digestion with FokI and BtsCI and desalting using Oasis purification plates, followed by analysis by MALDI-TOF MS. Overall, the protocol is simple, takes approximately 4-4.5 h and can accurately detect and identify at least 74 different HPV genotypes.     

Analysis of recombinant protein expression by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry of bacterial colonies

E. coli expressing soluble recombinant HIV antigens were analyzed directly by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry (MS) from bacterial colonies picked from agar plates. An HIV envelope (ENV) antigen construct, penvA, was expressed in E. coli by transformation of the plasmid pPL/penvA-M. The plasmid was co-transformed into E. coli DH5 alpha cells with an equal quantity of the plasmid pKRR826, the parent vector without the penvA insert, and plated at medium density on L-agar plus ampicillin plates. A total of 24 colonies from four agar plates (six colonies per plate) were picked and transferred into 50% acetonitrile--0.1% trifluoroacetic acid aliquots for analysis by MALDI-TOF MS. The MS analysis detected 10 of 24 colonies expressing the recombinant protein; one colony expressed a mutant penvA protein; eleven of 24 colonies showed ions only from E. coli; and two of 24 colonies showed no detectable proteins. When E. coli transformed only with plasmid pPL/penvA-M were examined, all (10 of 10) colonies showed the penv insert by the MALDI-TOF MS method. The method is fast (less than 1.5 h for 24 colonies) and allows identification of colonies expressing intact or mutant proteins directly from culture plates without sample purification.     

Identification of Gram-positive anaerobic cocci by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry

Gram-positive anaerobic cocci (GPAC) are part of the commensal microbiota of humans and are a phylogenetically heterogeneous group of organisms. To evaluate the suitability of matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) for the identification of GPAC, a database was constructed, using reference strains of commonly encountered GPAC and clinical isolates of which the sequence of the 16S rRNA gene was determined. Subsequently, the database was validated by identifying 107 clinical isolates of GPAC. Results were compared with the identifications obtained by 16S sequencing or fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH). Strains belonging to the same species grouped together, in most cases, by MALDI-TOF MS analyses. Strains with sequence similarities less than 98% to their closest relatives, formed clusters distinct from recognized species in the MALDI-TOF MS dendrogram and, therefore could not be identified. These strains probably represent new species. Only three clinical isolates (2 strains of Finegoldia magna and 1 strain of Anaerococcus vaginalis) could not be identified. For all the other GPAC strains (96/107), reliable identifications were obtained. Therefore, we concluded that MALDI-TOF MS is an excellent tool for the identification of phylogenetically heterogeneous groups of micro-organisms such as GPAC.     

MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry of oligomeric food polyphenols

The structural heterogeneity of polyphenols from cranberries, grape seed extracts, sorghum and pomegranate was characterized by MALDI-TOF MS. Polyphenolics were isolated by liquid chromatography and subjected to MALDI-TOF MS using trans-3-indoleacrylic acid as the matrix. Spectrometric analysis gave information on degree of polymerization, monomeric substitution, and the nature of intermolecular bonds. Cranberry polyflavan-3-ols had variation in interflavan bonds (A- and B-types) and contained polyflavan-3-ols linked to anthocyanins through a CH3-CH bridge. Polygalloyl-polyflavan-3-ols in grape seed extract had large variation in the degree of galloyl substitution. Sorghum polyflavans had structural heterogeneity in glycosylation and hydroxylation. Pomegranate hydrolyzable tannins that correspond to previously described structures were detected, such as punicalagin, but others that correspond to oligomeric ellgitannins in which two to five core glucose units are cross-linked by dehydrodigalloyl and or valoneoyl units were also observed. Results demonstrate that large heterogeneity occurs in degree of polymerization, intermolecular bonds, pattern of hydroxylation, and substitution with monosaccharides and gallic acid.     

Characterization of a multi-functional metal-mediated nuclease by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry

Mass spectrometric analysis of reaction products allows simultaneous characterization of activities mediated by multifunctional enzymes. By use of MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry, the relative influence of magnesium and manganese promoted exonuclease and phosphatase activities of Esherichia coli exonuclease III have been quantitatively measured, offering a rapid and sensitive alternative to radioactivity quantification and gel electrophoresis procedures for determination of reaction rate constants. Manganese is found to promote higher levels of exonuclease activity, which could be a source of mutagenic effects if this ion were selected as the natural cofactor. Several potential applications of these methods to quantitative studies of DNA repair chemistry are also described.     

Lipid fingerprints of intact viruses by MALDI-TOF/mass spectrometry

A number of viruses contain lipid membranes, which are in close contact with capsid proteins and/or nucleic acids and have an important role in the viral infection process. In this study membrane lipids of intact viruses have been analysed by MALDI-TOF/MS with a novel methodology avoiding lipid extraction and separation steps. To validate the novel method, a wide screening of viral lipids has been performed analysing highly purified intact bacterial and archaeal viruses displaying different virion architectures. Lipid profiles reported here contain all lipids previously detected by mass spectrometry analyses of virus lipid extracts. Novel details on the membrane lipid composition of selected viruses have also been obtained. In addition we show that this technique allows the study of lipid distribution easily in subviral particles during virus fractionation. The possibility to reliably analyse minute amounts of intact viruses by mass spectrometry opens new perspectives in analytical and functional lipid studies on a wider range of viruses including pathogenic human ones, which are difficult to purify in large amounts.     

Structural characterization of N-glycans of cauxin by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry and nano LC-ESI-mass spectrometry

Cauxin is a carboxylesterase-like glycoprotein excreted as a major component of cat urine. Cauxin contains four putative N-glycosylation sites. We characterized the structure of an N-linked oligosaccharide of cauxin using nano liquid chromatography (LC)-electrospray ionization (ESI) and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization quadrupole ion trap time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-QIT-TOF MS) and MS/MS, and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with an octadecylsilica (ODS) column. The structure of the N-linked oligosaccharide of cauxin attached to (83)Asn was a bisecting complex type, Galbeta1-4GlcNAcbeta1-2Manalpha1-3(Galbeta1-4GlcNAcbeta1-2Manalpha1-6)(GlcNAcbeta1-4)Manbeta1-4GlcNAcbeta1-4(Fucalpha1-6)GlcNAc.     

Applications of MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry in clinical proteomics

Introduction: The development of precision medicine requires advanced technologies to address the multifactorial disease stratification and to support personalized treatments. Among omics techniques, proteomics based on Mass Spectrometry (MS) is becoming increasingly relevant in clinical practice allowing a phenotypic characterization of the dynamic functional status of the organism. From this perspective, Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization Time of Flight (MALDI-TOF) MS is a suitable platform for providing a high-throughput support to clinics.

Areas covered: This review aims to provide an updated overview of MALDI-TOF MS applications in clinical proteomics. The most relevant features of this analysis have been discussed, highlighting both pre-analytical and analytical factors that are crucial in proteomics studies. Particular emphasis is placed on biofluids proteomics for biomarkers discovery and on recent progresses in clinical microbiology, drug monitoring, and minimal residual disease (MRD).

Expert commentary: Despite some analytical limitations, the latest technological advances together with the easiness of use, the low time and low cost consuming and the high throughput are making MALDI-TOF MS instruments very attractive for the clinical practice. These features offer a significant potential for the routine of the clinical laboratory and ultimately for personalized medicine.     

Detection of Staphylococcus aureus delta-toxin production by whole-cell MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry

The aim of the present study was to detect the Staphylococcus aureus delta-toxin using Whole-Cell (WC) Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization-Time-of-Flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry (MS), correlate delta-toxin expression with accessory gene regulator (agr) status, and assess the prevalence of agr deficiency in clinical isolates with and without resistance to methicillin and glycopeptides. The position of the delta-toxin peak in the mass spectrum was identified using purified delta-toxin and isogenic wild type and mutant strains for agr-rnaIII, which encodes delta-toxin. Correlation between delta-toxin production and agr RNAIII expression was assessed by northern blotting. A series of 168 consecutive clinical isolates and 23 unrelated glycopeptide-intermediate S. aureus strains (GISA/heterogeneous GISA) were then tested by WC-MALDI-TOF MS. The delta-toxin peak was detected at 3005±5 Thomson, as expected for the naturally formylated delta toxin, or at 3035±5 Thomson for its G10S variant. Multivariate analysis showed that chronicity of S. aureus infection and glycopeptide resistance were significantly associated with delta-toxin deficiency (p?=?0.048; CI 95%: 1.01-10.24; p?=?0.023; CI 95%: 1.20-12.76, respectively). In conclusion, the S. aureus delta-toxin was identified in the WC-MALDI-TOF MS spectrum generated during routine identification procedures. Consequently, agr status can potentially predict infectious complications and rationalise application of novel virulence factor-based therapies.     

基质辅助激光解吸电离飞行时间质谱技术用于常见益生菌鉴定的初步研究

目的建立基质辅助激光解吸电离飞行时间质谱(MADLI-TOF MS)技术鉴定常见益生菌的实验方法并对MADLI-TOF MS技术的适用性进行初步评价。方法对MADLI-TOF MS技术鉴定常见益生菌过程中各影响因素进行考察,筛选出最佳的实验条件。利用19株供试菌株所得的蛋白指纹图谱对MADLI-TOF MS技术的适用性进行研究。结果建立了MADLI-TOF MS技术鉴定常见益生菌的最佳实验方法。初步证明MADLI-TOF MS技术具备在属、种、亚种以及菌株水平上鉴定常见益生菌的能力。结论建立的实验方法稳定性高、重复性好,可以作为MADLI-TOF MS技术鉴定常见益生菌的参考方法。MADLI-TOF MS技术可以作为常见益生菌鉴定的方法之一。     

Evaluation of parameters in peptide mass fingerprinting for protein identification by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry

Protein identification by peptide mass fingerprinting, using the matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS), plays a major role in large proteome projects. In order to develop a simple and reliable method for protein identification by MALDI-TOF MS, we compared and evaluated the major steps in peptide mass fingerprinting. We found that the removal of excess enzyme from the in-gel digestion usually gave a few more peptide peaks, which were important for the identification of some proteins. Internal calibration always gave better results. However, for a large number of samples, two step calibrations (i.e. database search with peptide mass from external calibration, then the use of peptide masses from the search result as internal calibrants) were useful and convenient. From the evaluation and combination of steps that were already developed by others, we established a single overall procedure for peptide identification from a polyacrylamide gel.     

Quantifying peptide signal in MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry data

This study addressed the question of which properties in MALDI-TOF spectra are relevant to the task of identifying mass and abundance of a peptide species in human serum. Data of this type are common to biomarker studies, but significant within- and between-spectrum variabilities make quantifying biologically induced features difficult. We investigated this signal content and quantified the existence, or lack, of peptide-induced signal (as manifest in a multiresolution decomposition) by generating spectra from human serum in which the abundance of peptides of specific masses is controlled by a sequence of dilutions. The intensities of the corresponding features were directly proportional to peptide concentration. The primary goal was to exhibit some quantifiable properties of raw spectra from this application of MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. Although no recommendations are given regarding the best method for processing these data, the results confirm the utility of a simple method, based on wavelets, for defining and quantifying features related to low abundance peptide species in a heterogeneous set of complex spectra. Estimates on lower limits of detectable peptide abundance (in the 20-nmol range) and on the number of features present in a spectrum are made possible by the controlled experimental design, the use of a large external reference data set, and dependence on relatively few modeling assumptions.     

Identification of human liver cytochromes P450 by using MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry

Proteomic approaches have been used for detection and identification of cytochromes P450 forms from highly purified membrane preparations of human liver. These included the protein separation by 2D-and/or 1D-electrophoresis and molecular scanning of a SDS-PAGE gel fragment in a range 45–66 kDa (this area corresponds molecular weights of cytochromes P450). The analysis of protein content was statistically evaluated by means of an original 1D-ZOOMER software package which allowed to carry out the processing of mass spectra mixture instead of individual mass spectra used by standard techniques. In the range 45–66 kDa we identified 13 microsomal membrane proteins including such cytochrome P450 forms as CYPs 1A2, 1B1, 2A6, 2E1, 2C8, 2C9, 2C10, 2D6, 3A4, 4A11, 4F2. Study of enzymatic activities of human liver microsomal cytochrome P450 isoforms CYP 1A, 2B, 3A, and 2E revealed the decrease in the rates of O-dealkylation and N-demethylation catalyzed by CYP 450 1A1/1A2 and 3A4 under pathological conditions, whereas 7-benzyloxyresorufin-O-debenzylase activity (which characterizes the total activity of CYP 2B and CYP 2C), the activities of CYP 2E1 (methanol oxidation), 7-pentoxyresorufin-O-dealkylation (CYP 2B), 7-ethoxy-and 7-methoxycoumarin-O-dealkylases (CYP 2B1) remained basically unchanged.     

Applications of MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry in clinical diagnostic microbiology

Until recently, microbial identification in clinical diagnostic laboratories has mainly relied on conventional phenotypic and gene sequencing identification techniques. The development of matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) devices has revolutionized the routine identification of microorganisms in clinical microbiology laboratories by introducing an easy, rapid, high throughput, low-cost, and efficient identification technique. This technology has been adapted to the constraint of clinical diagnostic laboratories and has the potential to replace and/or complement conventional identification techniques for both bacterial and fungal strains. Using standardized procedures, the resolution of MALDI-TOF MS allows accurate identification at the species level of most Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial strains with the exception of a few difficult strains that require more attention and further development of the method. Similarly, the routine identification by MALDI-TOF MS of yeast isolates is reliable and much quicker than conventional techniques. Recent studies have shown that MALDI-TOF MS has also the potential to accurately identify filamentous fungi and dermatophytes, providing that specific standardized procedures are established for these microorganisms. Moreover, MALDI-TOF MS has been used successfully for microbial typing and identification at the subspecies level, demonstrating that this technology is a potential efficient tool for epidemiological studies and for taxonomical classification.