Surface-assisted laser desorption–ionization mass spectrometry on titanium dioxide (TiO₂) nanotube layers

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

<P>The paper reports on the use of a titanium oxide (TiO<SUB>2</SUB>) nanotube layer as a sensitive substrate for surface-assisted laser desorption–ionization mass spectrometry (SALDI-MS) of peptides and small molecules. The nanotube layers were prepared by electrochemical anodization of titanium foil. The optimized TiO<SUB>2</SUB> nanotubes morphology coupled to a controlled surface chemistry allowed desorption–ionization (D/I) of a peptide mixture (Mix1) with a detection limit of 10 femtomoles for the neurotensin peptide. The performance of the TiO<SUB>2</SUB> nanotubes for the D/I of small molecules was also tested for the detection of sutent, a small tyrosine kinase inhibitor, and verapamil. A detection limit of 50 fmol was obtained for these molecules, as compared to 500 fmol using classical matrix-assisted laser desorption–ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS). Both amorphous and anatase TiO<SUB>2</SUB> layers displayed a comparable performance for D/I of analyte molecules. In a control experiment, we have performed D/I of analyte molecules on a flat TiO<SUB>2</SUB> layer. The absence of signal emphasizes the role of the nanostructured substrate in the D/I process.</P>

<P>Graphic Abstract</P><P>The paper reports the use of a titanium oxide (TiO<SUB>2</SUB>) nanotube layer as a sensitive substrate for surface-assisted laser desorption–ionization mass spectrometry (SALDI-MS) of peptides and small molecules.
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