Rapid and accurate identification and quantification of proteins is one of the goals of today’s proteomics research. One key requirement for this approach is the ability to resolve the individual components of peptide mixtures prior to MS analysis. The challenge is to achieve high sensitivity with limited sample amount. This requires equipment that is specifically designed for separation at low flow rates and that allows the collection of small fraction volumes, even on MALDI targets. 

The micro collection/spotting system PAL MALDI Option meets this challenge. It is an ideal tool for single or multidimensional chromatographic separation of complex peptide and protein mixtures for subsequent analysis by MALDI and/or ESI mass spectrometry. The offline combination of LC separation with MALDI MS analysis gives scientists significant advantages over the widespread online ESI/MS approach. LC/MADI “freezes” the LC separation on the MALDI plate and allows MS/MS experiments without any time constrains. Intelligent decisions can now be made during analysis, allowing results-driven analysis without rerunning the sample. Decoupling the separation from the analysis gives the opportunity to optimize the separation performance and the total sample throughput. Flexibility for LC/MALDI spotting on various target types from different vendors as well as collection into well plates (96 and 384). Probe positioning control of 0.1mm enables reproducible and robust collection of small fraction volumes from nl to the lower µl range. Matrix addition can be done either offline or online by premixing the matrix with the eluent.