Inorganic nanoparticles
as MALDI matrices have recently been explored
to study the molecular mass determination and structural analysis
of glycans and peptides. However, the specific factors contributing
to the success of the analysis are not well elucidated. In this paper,
we investigated the roles of nanoparticle surface coatings and additive
ions in MALDI in-source decay (ISD) analysis of model glycans and
peptides. Specifically, iron oxide nanoparticles with four defined
capping molecules (gluconic acid, citric acid, lactobionic acid, or
glutathione) were tested, and the roles of additives (NH4OH, NaOH, LiOH, NaCl, or trifluoroacetic acid) were examined. For
a model glycan, maltoheptaose, and a model peptide, substance P acid,
nanoparticle capping molecules, additive cations, and additive anions
altogether influenced the molecular ion sensitivity and ISD fragmentation
efficiency.