Characterization of human plasma lipoproteins using anion exchange fast protein liquid chromatography and targeted mass spectrometry assay

We described a targeted mass spectrometry assay based on selected reaction monitoring (SRM) for five apolipoproteins (apoA1, apoB, apoJ, apoD, and apoE) in plasma lipoproteins isolated by anion exchange fast protein liquid chromatography using only 100 μL of plasma. We performed analytical characterization of the SRM assay and evaluated reproducibility of the entire workflow. The limit of detections for apoA1, apoB, apoD, apoJ, and apoE were 0.6, 4.6, 0.8, 1.2, and 0.7 nM, respectively; the limit of quantifications was 8.3 nM for all peptides except apoD (4.2 nM). The SRM assay was linear from 0.4 to 1667 nM. The intra-day and inter-day and total repeatability (CV%) of the assay ranged from 2.2% to 21.7% for all five peptides. The intra-day and inter-day and total reproducibility of the entire workflow ranged from 12.2% to 43.9% for all five peptides in fractionated high-density lipoprotein, low-density lipoprotein, and IDL. In the future, we will apply this workflow to investigate the association of fractionated plasma lipoproteins with amyloid deposition and cognitive changes in the context of Alzheimer's disease.