Development of a Biocompatible Solid Phase Microextraction Thin Film Coating for the Sampling and Enrichment of Peptides.

While currently available methods for peptide sample preparation are mostly suitable for ex situ analysis via exhaustive extraction techniques, these techniques do not allow for in situ extraction of peptides from biological samples, such as blood or plasma collected from patients for routine clinical applications. Biocompatible solid phase microextraction (Bio-SPME) has shown great potential in metabolomics for in situ extraction of metabolites including labile compounds from biological matrices in a biocompatible and non-exhaustive fashion, thus facilitating even in vivo sampling. However, the amounts of peptides extracted by such Bio-SPME chemical biopsy tools are deemed too low for quantification when porous polyacrylonitrile (PAN)-based biocompatible thin film sorbent coatings are used, since such materials have been commonly applied as means to restrict access of high molecular weight compounds such as proteins. Aiming to improve peptide extraction by the SPME sorbent while still preventing protein adsorption, thin films with nanoscale irregularities and mesopores were prepared by inclusion of the porogen lithium perchlorate in the slurries of the coatings. The novel thin film coating method significantly improved extraction of a range of angiotensins known to possess important roles in blood pressure regulation and electrolyte balance. Model low abundance peptides covering a wide range of hydrophobicities were successfully extracted from physiological buffers and human plasma using the increased porosity coating, while the SPME protocol on the tryptic digestion of a protein supported that enzymes were excluded during peptide extraction. Surface rheological analysis, which displayed mesopores on the C18/PAN coatings, confirmed that the porosity of the coating facilitated the mass transport of peptides through the PAN layer, thus enabling extraction of high amounts of peptides by the new C18/PAN coating.