Blood to Biomarker Quantitation in Under One Hour with Rapid Proteomics using a Hyperthermoacidic Protease

Multi-step multi-hour tryptic proteolysis has limited the utility of bottom-up proteomics for cases that require immediate quantitative information. The recently available hyperthermoacidic (HTA) protease "Krakatoa" digests samples in a single 5 to 30-minute step at pH 3 and >80 °C; conditions that disrupt most cells and tissues, denature proteins, and block disulfide reformation. The combination of quick single-step sample preparation with high throughput dual trapping column single analytical column (DTSC) liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) achieves "Rapid Proteomics" in which the time from sample collection to actionable data is less than 1 hour. The presented development and systematic evaluation of this methodology found reproducible quantitation of over 160 proteins from just 1 microliter of whole blood. Furthermore, the preference of the HTA-protease for intact proteins over peptides allows for sensitive targeted quantitation of the Angiotensin I and II bioactive peptides in under half an hour. With these methods we analyzed serum and plasma from 53 individuals and quantified Angiotensin and proteins that were not detected with trypsin. This assessment of Rapid Proteomics suggests that concentration of circulating protein and peptide biomarkers could be measured in almost real-time by LC-MS.

Rapid proteomics enables near real-time monitoring of circulating blood biomarkers. One microliter of blood is collected every 8 minutes, digested for 20 minutes, and then analyzed by targeted mass spectrometry for 8 minutes. This results in a 30-minute delay with datapoints every 8 minutes.