In this article, an analytical methodology to investigate the proteinaceous content in atmospheric size-resolved aerosols collected at the Zeppelin observatory (79 °N, 12 °E) at Ny Ålesund, Svalbard, from September to December 2015, is proposed. Quantitative determination was performed after acidic hydrolysis using ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography in reversed-phase mode coupled to electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry. Chromatographic separation, as well as specificity in the identification, was achieved by derivatization of the amino acids with N-butyl nicotinic acid N-hydroxysuccinimide ester prior to the analysis. The chromatographic run was performed within 11 min and instrumental levels of detection (LODs) were between 0.2 and 8.1 pg injected on the column, except for arginine which exhibited an LOD of 37 pg. Corresponding method LODs were between 0.01 and 1.9 fmol/m3, based on the average air sampling volume of 57 m3. The sum of free amino acids and hydrolyzed polyamino acids was shown to vary within 6-2914 and 0.02-1417 pmol/m3 for particles in sizes < 2 and 2-10 μm in equivalent aerodynamic diameter, respectively. Leucine, alanine, and valine were the most abundant among the amino acids in both aerosol size fractions. In an attempt to elucidate source areas of the collected aerosols, 5- to 10-day 3D backward trajectories reaching the sampling station were calculated. Overall, the method described here provides a first time estimate of the proteinaceous content, that is, the sum of free and polyamino acids, in size-resolved aerosols collected in the Arctic. Graphical Abstract ᅟ.

中文翻译：

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使用选择性 UHPLC/ESI-MS/MS 策略测量北极大气蛋白质气溶胶。

本文提出了一种分析方法，用于研究 2015 年 9 月至 12 月在斯瓦尔巴群岛新奥尔松齐柏林天文台（北纬 79°，东经 12°）收集的大气尺寸分辨气溶胶中的蛋白质含量。酸性水解后，使用反相模式超高效液相色谱与电喷雾电离串联质谱联用进行定量测定。色谱分离以及鉴定的特异性是通过在分析之前用 N-丁基烟酸 N-羟基琥珀酰亚胺酯对氨基酸进行衍生化来实现的。色谱运行在 11 分钟内完成，注入柱上的仪器检测水平 (LOD) 在 0.2 至 8.1 pg 之间，精氨酸除外，其 LOD 为 37 pg。基于 57 m3 的平均空气采样体积，相应方法的 LOD 介于 0.01 至 1.9 fmol/m3 之间。对于等效空气动力学直径小于 2 微米和 2-10 微米的颗粒，游离氨基酸和水解聚氨基酸的总和分别在 6-2914 和 0.02-1417 pmol/m3 范围内变化。亮氨酸、丙氨酸和缬氨酸是两种气溶胶大小组分中最丰富的氨基酸。为了阐明所收集的气溶胶的来源区域，计算了到达采样站的 5 至 10 天的 3D 向后轨迹。总体而言，此处描述的方法首次估计了北极收集的尺寸分辨气溶胶中的蛋白质含量，即游离氨基酸和聚氨基酸的总和。图形摘要ᅟ。