Development of a novel protocol for Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs) as artificial enzymes in proteomics applications

The aim of this project is the development of an easily applicable, chemical cleavage protocol using MOFs as artificial proteases for middle down proteomics applications. Metal oxide frameworks (MOFs) are heterogenous catalysts which are robust, cost-effective, and easily recyclable. Selective hydrolysis is of major importance in the field of proteomics and analytical biochemistry, although the hydrolysis of the peptide bond under biologically relevant conditions remains a challenging task. In this project we will apply metal organic frameworks (MOFs) as an attractive alternative for biological enzymes or chemical agents in protein cleavage. In contrast with the most common chemical hydrolysis methods, MOFs will be a nontoxic alternative, applied under mild reaction conditions. They do not contribute to protein sample contamination unlike trypsin. Detection of post-translational protein modifications (PTMs), often related to human diseases, is difficult using the most common proteomics applications. Preliminary results of the group of Prof Parac-Vogt show that MOFs generate fragments of ideal length for middle down proteomics pointing to a potential, major breakthrough in PTM detection.