Use of bioactive glass slides for matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization analysis: application to microorganisms

Glass slides are widely used in high-throughput analysis and are available commercially with surfaces activated, etched, and channeled. Thin glass microscope slides are shown here to be suitable sample supports for matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry. As a demonstration, lectins immobilized on glass slides with activated surfaces are used to concentrate and purify agglutinated Bacillis spores. It is expected that such slides will provide a rapid, inexpensive way to evaluate and implement new strategies involving MALDI MS readout.