Hydrophobin-coated plates as matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization sample support for peptide/protein analysis

Fungal hydrophobins are amphipathic self-assembling proteins. Vmh2 hydrophobin, prepared from mycelial cultures of the basidiomycete fungus Pleurotus ostreatus, spontaneously forms a stable and homogeneous layer on solid surfaces and is able to strongly absorb proteins even in their active forms. In this work, we have exploited the Vmh2 self-assembled layer as a novel coating of a matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) steel sample-loading plate. Mixtures of standard proteins, as well as tryptic peptides, in the nanomolar-femtomolar range were analyzed in the presence of salts and denaturants. As evidence on a real complex sample, crude human serum was also analyzed and spectra over a wide mass range were acquired. A comparison of this novel coating method with both standard desalting techniques and recently reported on-plate desalting methods was also performed. The results demonstrate that Vmh2 coating of MALDI plates allows for a very simple and effective desalting method suitable for development of lab-on-a-plate platforms focused on proteomic applications.