• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.14-17
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• 2017

The effect of cationization agent concentration on glycan detection via matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) was investigated using $Na^+$ ions in the form of NaCl as the cationization agent. NaCl solution concentrations ranging from 1 mM to 1 M were investigated. Glycans from ovalbumin were mixed with the cationization agent solution and the 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid (2,5-DHB) matrix solution in a volume ratio of 1:1:1. The resulting mixture was loaded onto the MALDI plate. Two MALDI-TOF MS instruments (Voyager DE-STR MALDI-TOF MS and Tinkerbell RT MALDI-TOF MS) were used for detection of glycans. The best detection, in terms of the number of identified glycans, the peak intensity, and the signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio, was obtained with NaCl concentrations of 0.01-0.1 M for both MALDI-TOF MS instruments.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.27-30
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• 2015

This article reviews the fundamentals of sample preparation used in matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS). MALDI is a soft ionization method used to generate analyte ions in their intact forms, which are then detected in MS analysis. MALDI-MS boasts fast analysis times and easy-to-use operation. The disadvantages of MALDI-MS include the occurrence of matrix-associated peaks and inhomogeneous distribution of analyte within the matrix. To overcome the disadvantages of MALDI-MS, various efforts have been directed such as using different matrices, novel matrix systems, various additives, and different sample preparation methods. These various efforts will be discussed in detail. This article will benefit those who would like to obtain basic knowledge of MALDI sample preparation and those who would like to use MALDI-MS in their chemical analyses.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.263-271
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• 2017

The application of mass spectrometry to polymer science has rapidly increased since the development of MALDI-TOF MS. This review summarizes current polymer analysis methods using MALDI-TOF MS, which has been extensively applied to analyze the average molecular weight of biopolymers and synthetic polymers. Polymer sequences have also been analyzed to reveal the structures and composition of monomers. In addition, the analysis of unknown end-groups and the determination of polymer concentrations are very important applications. Hyphenated techniques using MALDI-tandem MS have been used for the analysis of fragmentation patterns and end-groups, and also the combination of SEC and MALDI-TOF MS techniques is recommended for the analysis of complex polymers. Moreover, MALDI-TOF MS has been utilized for the observation of polymer degradation. Ion mobility MS, TOF-SIMS, and MALDI-TOF-imaging are also emerging technologies for polymer characterization because of their ability to automatically fractionate and localize polymer samples. The determination of polymer characteristics and their relation to the material properties is one of the most important demands for polymer scientists; the development of software and instrument for higher molecular mass range (> 100 kD) will increase the applications of MALDI-TOF MS for polymer scientists.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.134-143
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• 2005

Collagen is the important structural proteins in mammals with various peptide composition and cross-linkings. The direct analysis of collagen protein was not suitable because of its structural complexity and diversity. In this study, we suggest the simple way of collagen analysis by introducing matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) to identify the collagen and its trypsin-digested fragments, and by subsequent time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry(Q-TOF MS/MS) to analyze the amino acid sequences of identified fragments. Using the collagen samples extracted from the tail of mouse, 10 separated bands were found in SDS-PAGE, and the masses of most bands could be more finely determined by MALDI-TOF MS. When each 10 separated proteins was tryptic digested and introduced to MALDI-TOF, the Gly1056-Arg1073 fragment from $\alpha_1$-chain was identified in four bands, and the Gly1056-Arg1073 fragment from $\alpha_2$-chain was identified in five bands, both in type I collagen. Although few fragments were found because of the cross-linkings left in digested collagen sample, it could be determined that the type I collagen existed at least in 7 separated bands. When the amino acid sequences of two identified fragments were analyzed by Q-TOF MS/MS, both sequences were identical with those determined by MALDI-TOF MS. It suggested that the two peaks in MALDI-TOF MS caused by the fragments identified in this work could be used as the fingerprint to simply identify type I collagen in protein samples.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.145-156
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• 2022

Over the past few decades, few technologies have had a greater impact on clinical microbiology laboratories than matrix-assisted laser desorption time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). The MALDI-TOF MS is a fast, accurate, and low-cost and efficient method of microbial identification. This technology generates characteristic mass spectral fingerprints that is a unique signature for each microorganism, making it an ideal method for accurate identification at the genus and species levels of both bacterial and fastidious microorganism such as anaerobes, mycobacterium and fungi etc. In addition, MALDI-TOF MS has been successfully used in microbial subtyping and susceptibility tests such as determination of resistance genes. In this study, the authors summarized the application of MALDI-TOF MS in clinical microbiology and clinical research and explored the future of MALDI-TOF MS.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.61-64
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• 2011

Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization-Time-of-Flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) is the most widely used MS technique for glycan analysis. However, the poor point-to-point and sample-to-sample reproducibility becomes a limit in glycan biomarker research. A prespotted MALDI plate which overcomes the large crystal formation of 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid (DHB) has been developed and applied for glycan analysis. A homogeneous matrix coated surface without a crystal structure was formed on a hydrophilic/ hydrophobic patterned surface using a piezoelectric device. The reproducible MALDI-TOF-MS data have been presented using MALDI imaging of beer glycan as well as serum glycan eluted from 10% and 20% ACN elution fractions. The glycan profile from the serum glycan by MALDI-TOF-MS with a DHB prespotted plate was highly conserved for 10 different spectra and the coefficient of variations of significant ion peaks of MALDI data varies from 3.59 to 19.95.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.69-77
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• 2019

Screening microorganisms that can produce glucan hydrolases for industrial, environmental, and biomedical applications is important. Herein, we describe a novel approach to perform glucan hydrolase screening-based on analysis of matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) spectra-which involves degradation of the oligo- and polysaccharides. As a proof-of-concept study, glucan hydrolases that could break down glucans made of several glucose units were used to demonstrate the MALDI-MS-based enzyme assay. First, the enzyme activities of ${\alpha}$-amylase and cellulase on a mixture of glucan oligosaccharides were successfully discriminated, where changes of the MALDI-MS profiles directly reflected the glucan hydrolase activities. Next, we validated that this MALDI-MS-based enzyme assay could be applied to glucan polysaccharides (i.e., pullulan, lichenan, and schizophyllan). Finally, the bacterial glucan hydrolase activities were screened on 96-well plate-based platforms, using cell lysates or samples of secreted enzyme. Our results demonstrated that the MALDI-MS-based enzyme assay system would be useful for investigating bacterial glucoside hydrolases in a high-throughput manner.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.69-72
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• 2011

Defective synthesis of the steroid hormones by the adrenal cortex has profound effects on human development and homeostasis. Due to the time-consuming chromatography procedure combined with mass spectrometry, the matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization method coupled to the linear ion-trap tandem mass spectrometry (MALDI-LTQ-MS/MS) was developed for quantitative analysis of 10 adrenal steroids in human serum. Although MALDI-MS can be introduced for its applicability as a high-throughput screening method, it has a limitation on reproducibility within and between samples, which renders poor reproducibility for quantification. For quantitative MALDI-MS/MS analysis, the stable-isotope labeled internal standards were used and the conditions of crystallization were tested. The precision and accuracy were 3.1~35.5% and 83.8~138.5%, respectively, when a mixture of 10 mg/mL ${\alpha}$-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamic acid in 0.2% TFA of 70% acetonitrile was used as the MALDI matrix. The limit of quantification ranged from 5 to 340 ng/mL, and the linearity as a correlation coefficient was higher than 0.988 for all analytes in the calibration range. Clinical applications include quantitative analyses of patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia. The devised MALDI-MS/MS technique could be successfully applied to diagnosis of clinical samples.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.93-105
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• 2021

Exosomes have gained the attention of the scientific community because of their role in facilitating intercellular communication, which is critical in disease monitoring and drug delivery research. Exosome research has grown significantly in recent decades, with a focus on the development of various technologies for isolating and characterizing exosomes. Among these efforts is the use of matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry (MS), which offers high-throughput direct analysis while also being cost and time effective. MALDI is used less frequently in exosome research than electrospray ionization due to the diverse population of extracellular vesicles and the impurity of isolated products, both of which necessitate chromatographic separation prior to MS analysis. However, MALDI-MS is a more appropriate instrument for the analytical approach to patient therapy, given it allows for fast and label-free analysis. There is a huge drive to explore MALDI-MS in exosome research because the technology holds great potential, most notably in biomarker discovery. With methods such as fingerprint analysis, OMICs profiling, and statistical analysis, the search for biomarkers could be much more efficient. In this review, we highlight the potential of MALDI-MS as a tool for investigating exosomes and some of the possible strategies that can be implemented based on prior research.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.247-251
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• 2016

Salmonella is one of the most common bacteria that causes heavy losses in swine industry and major causative pathogen of food poisoning in public health. Various methods for the identification of Salmonella such as Gram staining, agglutination test, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), polymerase chain reaction (PCR) have been used. Several studies have demonstrated that Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization Time of Flight (MALDI TOF) Mass Spectrometry (MS) identification is an efficient and inexpensive method for the rapid and routine identification of isolated bacteria. In this study, MALDI TOF MS could provide rapid, accurate identification of Salmonella spp. from swine compared with end point PCR and real time PCR.