A New Way To Detect Noncovalently Bonded Complexes of Biomolecules from Liquid Micro-Droplets by Laser Mass Spectrometry

Nina Morgner; Hans-Dieter Barth; Bernhard Brutschy

doi:10.1071/CH05285

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A New Way To Detect Noncovalently Bonded Complexes of Biomolecules from Liquid Micro-Droplets by Laser Mass Spectrometry

Nina Morgner ^A , Hans-Dieter Barth ^A and Bernhard Brutschy ^A ^B

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A J. W. Goethe University, Institute for Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, 60439 Frankfurt, Germany.

^B Corresponding author. Email: brutschy@chemie.uni-frankfurt.de

Australian Journal of Chemistry 59(2) 109-114 https://doi.org/10.1071/CH05285
Submitted: 21 October 2005 Accepted: 8 December 2005 Published: 7 March 2006

Abstract

A new version of laser mass-spectrometry is presented, which allows the quantitative analysis of specific biocomplexes in native solution. On-demand micro droplets, injected into vacuum, are irradiated by mid IR-laser pulses. Above a certain intensity threshold they explode due to the transmitted energy, setting free a fraction of the charged biomolecules which are then mass-analyzed. Amounts of analyte in the attomolar range may be detected with the ion intensity being linear over a wide range of molarity. Evidence is given that this method is soft, tolerant against various buffers, reflects properties of the liquid phase, and suitable for studying noncovalently bonded specific complexes. This is highlighted by results from antibiotics specifically binding into the minor groove of duplex DNA.

Acknowledgments

We thank Corinna Hunger for ESI and MALDI measurements for comparison and helpful discussions, Ute Scheffer for all kinds of advice on biomolecules, and all members of our workshop for producing the apparatus. Helpful discussions with Profs. Michael Göbel (Frankfurt), Jean-Pierre Schermann (Paris), and Evan Williams (Berkeley) are gratefully acknowledged. B.B. thanks Evan Williams for his hospitality during his sabbatical at the University of California at Berkeley. Financial support by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft through Sonderforschungsbereich 579 and the Fond der Chemischen Industrie is gratefully appreciated.

References

A New Way To Detect Noncovalently Bonded Complexes of Biomolecules from Liquid Micro-Droplets by Laser Mass Spectrometry

Abstract

Acknowledgments

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