A novel desalting method on target for MALDI-TOF-MS analysis based on Fe3O4/TiO2 nanoparticles

A novel method for desalting directly on MALDI-TOF-MS target has been established based on the absorption of peptides with Fe3O4/TiO2 nanoparticles. After optimization of experimental conditions, such as the amounts of nanoparticles and washing solutions, 100 fmol myoglobin digested by trypsin in 10 mol/L urea solution could be identified successfully, and the reliable result could also be obtained for 10 fmol myoglobin in 3 mol/L urea solution. The experimental results show that the method developed can be easily and effectively used for the protein identification in high salt buffer and has great potential for the large scale proteomics studies in future.