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.