Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 29, 2026

Low Molecular Weight Protein Enrichment on Mesoporous Silica Thin Films for Biomarker Discovery
Published on: April 17, 2012
Protein UTLC-MALDI-MS using thin films of submicrometer silica particles
Zhaorui Zhang1, Saliya N Ratnayaka, Mary J Wirth
1Department of Chemistry, Purdue University, 560 Oval Drive, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA.
None:
Slides for ultra thin-layer chromatography (UTLC) were made by coating nonporous silica particles, chemically modified with polyacrylamide, as 15 microm films on glass or silicon. Three proteins, myoglobin, cytochrome c and lysozyme, are nearly baseline resolved by the mechanism of hydrophilic interaction chromatography. A plate height as low as 3 microm, with 3900 plates, is observed in 14 mm. Varying silica particle diameter among 900, 700 and 350 nm showed that decreasing particle diameter slightly improves resolution but slows the separation. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI)-MS of the proteins after separation is demonstrated by wicking sufficient sinapinic acid into the separation medium.
Related Concept Videos
MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry
Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization (MALDI)

