Efficient removal of detergents from proteins and peptides in a spin column format.

Detergents are commonly used in protein-chemistry protocols and may be necessary for protein extraction, solubilization, and denaturation; however, their presence interferes with many downstream analysis techniques, including mass spectrometry (MS). To enable downstream analysis, it is critical to remove unbound detergents from protein and peptide samples. In this study, we describe a high-performance resin that offers exceptional detergent removal for proteins and peptides. When used in a spin column format, this resin dramatically improves protein and peptide MS results by more than 95% removal of 1-5% detergents, including sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), sodium deoxycholate, Chaps, Triton X-100, Triton X-114, NP-40, Brij-35, octyl glucoside, octyl thioglucoside, and lauryl maltoside, with high recovery of proteins and peptides. Postcolumn liquid chromatography-tandem MS (LC-MS/MS) analysis of trypsin digests of bovine serum albumin (BSA) and HeLa cell lysate revealed excellent sequence coverage, indicating successful removal of detergent from the peptides. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI)-MS analysis of unprocessed and processed samples further confirmed efficient removal of detergents. The advantages of this method include speed (<15min), efficient detergent removal, and high recovery of proteins and peptides.

Quantitation of proteins using a dye-metal-based colorimetric protein assay.

We describe a dye-metal (polyhydroxybenzenesulfonephthalein-type dye and a transition metal) complex-based total protein determination method. The binding of the complex to protein causes a shift in the absorption maximum of the dye-metal complex from 450 to 660 nm. The dye-metal complex has a reddish brown color that changes to green on binding to protein. The color produced from this reaction is stable and increases in a proportional manner over a broad range of protein concentrations. The new Pierce 660 nm Protein Assay is very reproducible, rapid, and more linear compared with the Coomassie dye-based Bradford assay. The assay reagent is room temperature stable, and the assay is a simple and convenient mix-and-read format. The assay has a moderate protein-to-protein variation and is compatible with most detergents, reducing agents, and other commonly used reagents. This is an added advantage for researchers needing to determine protein concentrations in samples containing both detergents and reducing agents.