In our current work, we describe how open tubular-immobilized metal-ion affinity chromatography (OT-IMAC) capillary columns connected to a solid phase microextraction (in-tube SPME) device can be used for the enrichment of phosphopeptides. A phosphonate modified silica nanoparticle (NP)-deposited capillary was prepared by liquid phase deposition (LPD), and used for the immobilization of Fe(3+), Zr(4+) or Ti(4+). The enrichment capacities of three different OT-IMAC capillary columns were compared by using tryptically digested alpha-casein as sample. The improved extraction efficiency in our technique was demonstrated by comparing to a directly modified capillary, and a comparison of phosphopeptide extraction from simple and complex samples was tested for both modes. Our results show that the NP-IMAC-Zr(4+) capillary column can be used to selectively isolate phosphopeptides from real samples, and can enrich for beta-casein phosphopeptides from concentrations as low as 1.7x10(-9) M.

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Ceria-zirconia composites at different molar ratios were synthesized. Several methods were used to characterize these composites, including X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, surface area and surface acid-base property detection. A one-step method for isolation and identification of phosphopeptides from peptide mixture was created using these ceria-zirconia composites. Using tryptic digest of standard phosphorylated protein, we have shown that these enrichment and dephosphorylation activities are effective. The adsorption capacity and catalytic property of ceria-zirconia composites at different molar ratios and calcinated temperatures were studied. In combination with MALDI-TOF-based peptide mass finger printing technique, we have established a method to utilize the enrichment/dephosphorylation dual properties of these ceria-zirconia composites for the analysis of phosphoprotein in nonfat milk successfully.

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