Amine-functionalized TiO2 nanoparticles for highly selective enrichment of phosphopeptides

• A TiO2 hybrid nanomaterial was synthesized and applied for phosphopeptides capture.
• The hybrid nanomaterial exhibited lower Lewis acidity and enhanced hydrophilicity.
• The hybrid nanomaterial had a highly selective enrichment ability for phosphopeptides.

Specific enrichment of trace phosphoproteins or phosphopeptides from complex biological samples prior to mass spectrometry analysis is of profound significance for in-depth phosphoproteomics. In this work, an amine-functionalized TiO2 nano-material with N′[3-(trimethoxysilyl)-propyl] diethylenetriamine (TPDA) modified on the surface of nanoparticle TiO2 (TiO2@TPDA) was successfully designed and applied for the enrichment of phosphopeptides. Compared with pure TiO2, the novel prepared TiO2@TPDA possessed lower Lewis acidity, enhanced hydrophilicity and stronger affinity to phosphopeptides, and its performance for selective and effective enrichment of phosphopeptide was investigated by the standard protein digests and human serum.

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