CAPILLARY ISOELECTRIC-FOCUSING ELECTROSPRAY MASS-SPECTROMETRY FOR PROTEIN-ANALYSIS

On-line combination of capillary isoelectric focusing (CIEF) with electrospray mass spectrometry (ESMS) as a two-dimensional separation system is demonstrated. Mixtures of model proteins including cytochrome c (horse heart), myoglobin (horse heart), and carbonic anhydrase II (bovine erythrocyte) are focused and cathodically mobilized in a polyacrylamide-coated capillary. At the end of CIEF capillary, the mobilized protein zones are analyzed by mass spectrometry coupled on-line to an electrospray interface with a coaxial sheath now configuration. The effects of carrier ampholyte concentration on the CIEF separation and the protein electrospray ionization mass spectra are presented and discussed. In this study, the focusing effect of CIEF permits analysis of very dilute protein samples. A typical concentration factor of 50-100 times is observed. The concentration detection limit of myoglobin for a full-scan CIEF-ESMS analysis is in the range of 10(-7) M, 2 orders of magnitude over that possible with normal capillary zone electrophoresis ESMS.