Hydrophilic magnetic host–guest Ti–phenolic networks: a promising material for the highly sensitive enrichment of glycopeptides and phosphopeptides

Abstract

Protein glycosylation and phosphorylation are the two most important post-translational modifications, which play a vital role in physiological and pathological processes. Before the comprehensive characterization of glycoproteome/phosphoproteome through the mass spectrometry (MS) technique, it is necessary to perform a highly specific enrichment procedure because glycoproteins/phosphoproteins inherently occur in low abundances. Herein, we have reported a novel magnetic β-cyclodextrin-based host–guest Ti–phenolic network material, focusing on the simultaneous enrichment of glycopeptides/phosphopeptides via hydrophilic interaction chromatography and immobilized metal ion chromatography. Ti ions and glutathione-derived adamantine were introduced by metal–phenolic interactions and host–guest interactions. The material possesses biocompatibility, good hydrophilicity, strong magnetic response, metal chelation effect, and demonstrates an excellent enrichment ability towards glycopeptides/phosphopeptides. Combined with MS detection, high sensitivity (0.035/0.01 fmol for IgG/β-casein) and good reusability (6 times) were achieved. In addition, its outstanding specificity was validated in quantities as low as 500 : 1 : 1 for BSA : IgG : β-casein (m/m/m). Benefiting from these merits, the adsorbent material was successfully used for the simultaneous enrichment of phosphopeptides/glycopeptides from human serum and HeLa cell lysate and can be expected to exhibit great applicability for precious and small amounts of biosamples in the study of glycoproteomics/phosphoproteomics.