Re-exploring α-Cyano-4-Hydroxycinnamic Acid as a Reactive Matrix for Selective Detection of Glutathione via MALDI-MS

Herein, we re-explored α-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamic acid (CHCA) as a reactive matrix for selective and sensitive analysis of glutathione (GSH) by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS). CHCA efficiently reacted with GSH, and the resulting CHCA-GSH conjugate was readily detected by MALDI-MS without interferences. The detection limit of the CHCA-GSH conjugate decreased to 200 pmol μL-1, which was 2 orders of magnitude lower than that of pure GSH.Forapplication, CHCA was successfully applied for the detection of GSH, present in HepG2 cell lysates. The results demonstrated detection advantages of simple, high-throughput, and selective and screening of GSH in biological samples by MALDI-MS.