Automated protein precipitation by filtration in the 96-well format

The use of automated protein precipitation by filtration in the 96-well format as a rapid sample preparation technique for high throughput bioanalysis using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry is reported. A robotic sample processor is used to aspirate sequentially a plasma sample and acetonitrile separated by air gaps. These are then mixed by being dispensed into individual channels of a 96-well filter block. The resulting supernatant is separated from the precipitated plasma proteins by the application of gentle vacuum using a custom manifold. The filtered supernatants are collected into a deep well microtitre plate, evaporated to dryness using a heated 96-well dry down station and reconstituted in water prior to analysis. The efficiency of the extraction procedure is measured by the Lowry method for determining protein concentration. This method was used to optimise both the volume and the order of reagent addition, and to compare several prototype 96-well filter blocks. Using the optimised procedure a specific, precise and accurate method was developed for the beta-agonist salbutamol in rabbit plasma with a calibration range of 1 to 100 ng/ml from 100 microl of sample.