Preliminary study of metals in proteins by high-performance liquid chromatography-inductively coupled plasma mass...

The feasibility of multi-element and multi-isotope determinations during the on-line chromatographic separation of protein matrices was investigated using time-resolved software with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Size-exclusion chromatography was used to separate a mixture of known proteins and the behaviour of associated elements was monitored. It was possible to scan either the entire mass range or a selected number of isotopes. Reversed-phase chromatography was used to separate Zn-containing species in chicken meat that had been intrinsically and extrinsically labelled with stable isotopes of Zn. The ratio obtained for the intrinsic label agreed with that obtained by other workers using thermal ionization mass spectrometry. Time-resolved analysis permitted rapid data acquisition, thus reducing the number of chromatographic runs required. However, at present, data handling can be time consuming. Further software developments will add to the advantages that this technique offers.