Nanospray mass spectrometry for identification of peptides. Application of a novel interface.

Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry is a powerful tool for identification of biomolecules such as peptides, proteins, oligosaccharides and neurotransmitters. Recent development of the nanospray techniques, applied at ultralow flow-rates, allowed a sensitive analysis of compounds at femto/attomolar level. Here, we present application of a novel nanospray device for the analysis and fragmentation of peptides with high sensitivity on a sector instrument. The lowest applied flow-rate of the mobile phase was maintained at 50 nl/min with a sample load of 90 fmol. Nanospray also provided a complete analysis of 500 nl of the sample for over 10 min, including sequencing of as little as 40 pmol of a substance. Such analysis provides full structural information necessary to identify the molecules.