Quantitation of binding, recovery and desalting efficiency of peptides and proteins in solid phase extraction micropipette tips

Micropipette-tip solid phase extraction (SPE) systems are common in proteomic analyses for desalting and concentrating samples for mass spectrometry, removing interferences, and increasing sensitivity. These systems are inexpensive, disposable, and highly efficient. Here, we show micropipette-tip solid phase extraction is a direct sample preparation method for 14C-accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS), removing salts or reagent from labeled macromolecules. We compared loading, recovery and desalting efficiency in commercially available SPE micro-tips using 14C-labeled peptides and proteins, AMS, and alpha spectrometry ion energy loss quantitation. The polypropylene in the tips was nearly 14C-free and simultaneously provided low-background carrier for AMS. The silica material did not interfere with the analysis. Alpha spectrometry provided an absolute measurement of desalting efficiency.