Analysis of Phosphopeptides by {micro}LC-ESI-MS/MS

INTRODUCTIONWhether using a pressure cell or gel-loader tips, IMAC-purified peptides can be injected into a μLC separation system and analyzed by μLC-ESI-MS/MS. Phosphopeptides behave and elute similarly to nonphosphorylated peptides during RP-HPLC, but because of a decrease in hydrophobicity due to the addition of the phosphate moiety, a phosphopeptide will generally elute before the nonphosphopeptide with the identical amino acid sequence. This difference in elution time is most pronounced for short peptides. Thus, when analyzing phosphopeptides from μLC online with ESI-MS/MS, it is prudent to acquire data during the wash step (i.e., prior to gradient elution), as some short phosphopeptides may not even bind to the C(18) resin in 100% aqueous solutions. Otherwise, these very hydrophilic peptides will be missed. This protocol provides typical μLC conditions for the separation of IMAC-enriched phosphopeptides when the μLC system is online with the ESI-MS/MS.