Integrated top-down/bottom-up mass spectrometry of proteins using a droplet microfluidic platform

We have used droplet microfluidic (DMF) platform as front-end sample preparation technique prior to ESI mass spectrometric analysis of protein samples. DMF is a micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) technology capable of moving, splitting, merging and dispensing of sub-microlitre droplets. We report on integration of DMF with ESI-MS using a liquid handling robot and demonstrate sample enrichment using functionalized magnetic beads to perform on-chip enrichment of a HIS-tagged protein from a clarified cell lysate droplet, followed by alternatively a bottom-up or top-down proteomics mass-spectrometric workflow. This demonstrates the utility of DMF for low-volume automated sample handling for mass spectrometric analysis.

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