Proteomic analysis of acrylamide gel separated proteins immobilized on polyvinylidene difluoride membranes following proteolytic digestion in the presence of 80% acetonitrile

摘要

Two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2-D PAGE) combined with mass spectrometry (MS) is a highly accurate and sensitive means of identifying proteins. We have developed a novel method for digesting proteins on polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) membranes for subsequent matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) MS analysis. After Tricine sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-PAGE, separated proteins were electroblotted onto PVDF membranes in a semidry discontinuous buffer system, visualized by staining with Coomassie Blue, excised, digested with trypsin or lysC in 80% acetonitrile, and then analyzed by MALDI-TOF MS. This method has several advantages over in-gel digestion in terms of sample handling, sensitivity, and time. We identified 105 fmol of Bacillus subtilis SecA and 100 ～ 500 fmol of standard proteins. We also analyzed the submembrane protein fraction solubilized by 1% n-dodecyl-β-D-maltoside from B. subtilis membranes after separation by 2-D PAGE, and identified 116 protein spots. This method can detect proteins at the 10 ～ 50 fmol level by pooling more than ten identical electroblotted protein spots.