A Novel Desalting Method on Target for MALDI-TOF-MS Analysis Based on Fe3O4/TiO2 Nanoparticles

A novel method for desalting protein directly on MALDI-TOF-MS target has been established based on the absorption of peptides with Fe3O4/TiO2 nanoparticles. After optimization of experimental conditions, such as the amounts of nanoparticles and washing solutions, 100 fmol myoglobin digested by trypsin in 10 M urea solution could be identified successfully, and reliable results could also be obtained for 10 fmol myoglobin in 3 M urea solution. The experimental results show that the method developed can be easily and effectively used for the protein identification in high-salt buffer and has great potential for the large scale proteomics studies in future.