MS for investigation of time-dependent protein adsorption on surfaces in complex biological samples

AIM This study aims at developing a nondestructive way for investigating protein adsorption on surfaces such as biomaterials using mass spectrometry. METHODS Ventricular cerebrospinal fluid in contact with poly carbonate membranes were used as adsorption templates and on-surface enzymatic digestion was applied to desorb proteins and cleave them into peptides. Mass spectrometric analysis provided both protein identification and determination of protein specific adsorption behavior. RESULTS In general, the adsorption increased with incubation time but also protein-specific time-resolved adsorption patterns from the complex protein solution were discovered. CONCLUSION The method developed is a promising tool for the characterization of biofouling, which sometimes causes rejection and encapsulation of implants and can be used as complement to other surface analytical techniques.