Activated surfaces for laser desorption mass spectrometry: application for peptide and protein analysis.

Thanks to the development of matrix assisted laser desorption/ionisation (MALDI), laser desorption based mass spectrometry became an essential method for the analysis of biomolecules. This review will discuss the various surface modifications used in combination with laser desorption mass spectrometry and their application for the analysis of peptides and proteins. In the first hand, some modified surfaces are designed to enhance the laser desorption/ionisation process; this includes the use of carbon, porous silicon surfaces and also immobilised matrix. In an other hand chemical and biochemical modified surfaces developed to isolate species with more or less specific interactions can be used for on-slide sample clean-up before MALDI-MS analysis. In addition, different experimental devices as mass spectrometers and microfluidic devices used for such a purpose will be presented.