Facile synthesis of C8-functionalized magnetic silica microspheres for enrichment of low-concentration peptides for direct MALDI-TOF MS analysis

In this study, novel C-8-functionalized magnetic polymer microspheres were prepared by coating single submicron-sized magnetite particle with silica and subsequent modification with chloro (dimethyl) octylsilane. The resulting C8-functionalized magnetic silica (C-8-f-M-S) microspheres exhibit well-defined magnetite-core-silica-shell structure and possess high content of magnetite, which endow them with high dispersibility and strong magnetic response. With their magnetic property, the synthesized C-8-f-M-S microspheres provide a convenient and efficient way for enrichment of low-abundance peptides from tryptic protein digest and human serum. The enriched peptides/proteins were subjected for MALDI-TOF MS analysis and the enrichment efficiency was documented. In a word, the facile synthesis and efficient enrichment process of the novel C-8-f-M-S microspheres make them promising candidates for isolation of peptides even in complex biological samples such as serum, plasma, and urine.