Identification of human myocardial proteins separated by two-dimensional electrophoresis using an effective sample preparation for mass spectrometry

Peptide mass fingerprinting is a powerful tool for the identification of proteins separated by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE). The identification of in-gel digested proteins by peptide mass fingerprinting was significantly improved in comparison to blot-digests by using a peptide-collecting device. This device allows the effective purification and concentration of enzymatic digests of low-intensity spots without expensive equipment and is described in detail. Sensitivity in the fmol range was demonstrated by unequivocal identification of bovine serum albumin after sodium dodecyl sulfate - polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Furthermore the high performance liquid chromatography pattern of in-gel digests indicated a 2- to 3-fold higher yield of the separated peptides. Therefore, a higher amount of the peptides was available to perform N-terminal sequencing. The identification of 16 proteins from a high-resolution 2-DE gel map of human myocardium tissue has been achieved by means of this technique. Three of these proteins were associated with changes in spot intensity with dilated cardiomyopathy.