A Parallel Accumulation-Mobility Aligned Fragmentation Strategy Utilizing High-Resolution Ion Mobility for High-Performance Proteomics Analysis.
Here we present a novel data-independent acquisition (DIA) mass spectrometry (MS) operating mode termed parallel accumulation-mobility aligned fragmentation (PAMAF) that offers enhanced speed and sensitivity of ion fragmentation analysis for discovery workflows such as bottom-up proteomics. This mode of operation leverages high-resolution ion mobility (HRIM) separation capabilities of the structures for lossless ion manipulation technology to achieve HRIM-based precursor isolation in place of traditional quadrupole filtering approaches. PAMAF mode increases the number of features that can be identified per MS1/MS2 acquisition cycle by employing mobility-based time alignment to associate fragment ions with their corresponding precursor ions. By using a high-speed, lossless separation technique for precursor isolation instead of the comparatively slow and wasteful quadrupole filtering, ion losses are avoided while simultaneously increasing the rate at which precursor ions are sequentially fragmented and detected. In addition, by accumulating ions while the previous packet of ions is being analyzed, the PAMAF mode achieves ∼100% ion utilization efficiency. Benchmarking results of LC-PAMAF-MS analysis of a whole cell protein digest showed ∼6× more protein group identifications compared to a standard data-dependent acquisition analysis without HRIM on the same QTOF instrument, and >100 x improvement for low-load workflows. Quantitative evaluations demonstrated that PAMAF mode could quantify low abundance peptides, including those undetectable by data-dependent acquisition. In addition, since precursor isolation in PAMAF mode is size-based rather than m/z-based, coeluting isobars and isomers can be resolved prior to fragmentation, eliminating chimeric spectra that compromise identification accuracy. We also explored the benefits of combining HRIM and quadrupole isolation to achieve improved specificity termed DIA-PAMAF mode, which enabled the detection of over 8000 protein groups from a HeLa digest analysis. PAMAF mode brings a powerful new technique to the field of proteomics with the potential to improve the sensitivity and selectivity of mass spectrometry-based proteomics.