Metal Ion-Tannic Acid Network-Coated Gold Nanoparticles for Metabolite Analysis by Laser Desorption/Ionization Mass Spectrometry

This study introduced metal ion-tannic acid network-coated gold nanoparticles (M-TA@AuNPs) as novel matrices for laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (LDI MS). M-TA@AuNPs as matrices could enhance the LDI MS performance for detection of metabolites at low molecular weight with low background noise, which overcame the limitations of organic matrices and bare AuNPs. Subsequently, the proposed method was applied in the analysis of complex biological samples including urine and cerebrospinal fluid, with high signal intensity (~10⁵). Our work demonstrated the good potential of M-TA@AuNPs as LDI MS matrices in metabolic profiling and clinical diagnostics.