Native Mass Spectrometry for Peptide–Metal Interaction in Picoliter Cell Lysate

Native mass spectrometry, which takes a high concentration of ammonium acetate (NH4OAc) for ionization, coupled with tedious and solvent-consuming purification, which separates proteins from complicated environments, has shown great potential for proteins and their complexes. A high level of nonvolatile salts in the endogenous intracellular environment results in serious ion suppression and has been one of the bottlenecks for native mass spectrometry, especially for protein complexes. Herein, an integrated protocol utilizing the inner surface of a micropipette for rapid purification, desorption, and ionization of peptide–metal interaction at subfemtomole level in cell lysate was demonstrated for native mass spectrometry. The methods showed robust and reproducibility in protein measurement within 1 min from various buffers. The E. coli cells expressing with various proteins were lysed and used to test our method. The specific interaction between the peptide–metal complex in cell lysates could be reserved and distinguished by mass spectrometry.