Development of ultra-high pressure capillary reverse-phase liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry for high-sensitive and high-throughput proteomics

Recently mass spectrometry and separation methods such as liquid chromatography have become major tools in the field of proteomics. In this report, we describe in detail our efforts to develop ultra-high pressure capillary reverse-phase liquid chromatography (cRPLC) and its online coupling to a mass spectrometer by a nanoelectrospray (nanoESI) interface. The RPLC system is constructed in house to deliver LC solvents at the pressure up to 20,000 psig, which is four times higher than conventional RPLC systems. The high operation pressure allows the efficient use of packed micro-capillary columns (50, 75 and 150 μm i.d., up to 1.5 m long). We will discuss the effect of column diameter on the sensitivity of cRPLC/MS/MS experiments and the utility of the developed technique for proteome analysis by its application in the analysis of proteome samples having different levels of complexity.