Direct On-Plate Desalting and Enrichment for Improved Low Molecular Weight Marker Detection

Research in the biomarker field has often been compared to the saying: "finding a needle in a haystack". When investigating low-level markers in body fluids using mass spectrometry, we are limited by a strong background signal resulting from the detection of highly abundant proteins. In order to increase the sensitivity of the detection of a marker, one can choose to either selectively remove it from the initial fluid or exclude abundant proteins. We present herein novel plates that feature a proprietary mesoporous silica surface (MPS) that excludes high abundant proteins based on their size, charge, and hydropathy index. This technique coupled with MALDI-TOF analysis provides biomarker researchers a unique platform combining: throughput, speed, reproducibility and ease of use.