Phosphopeptide enrichment using metal oxide affinity chromatography

The demand for effective sample preparation strategies that enable the in-depth study of protein phosphorylation has spawned a number of selective affinity techniques that allow enrichment of phosphopeptides from highly complex peptide mixtures. Among those, metal oxide affinity (MOA) materials have seen a strong increase in popularity in recent years, and MOA chromatography is now one of the most widely used strategies in phosphoproteomics. This review gives an overview of the mechanisms of metal oxide–phosphate interaction, discusses strategies to improve enrichment protocols and highlights achievements in characterizing the phosphoproteome with the help of MOA materials.