Advances in the adsorption/enrichment of proteins/peptides by metal–organic frameworks-affinity adsorbents

Efficient adsorption/enrichment of protein species from complex biological matrixes is the prerequisite in proteomic analysis. Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) belong to an emerging class of ordered porous materials consisting of metal clusters and organic ligands. The fine-tunable metal clusters and organic ligands, easy-functional surface engineering as well as controllable combination with other species, make MOFs efficient adsorbents in sample processing. Thus, a review for the advances of MOFs in proteins/peptides adsorption/enrichment is essential for promoting further studies in this field. This review focuses on understanding the different functional moieties of MOFs in sample processing, mainly including metal clusters, organic ligands, functional groups, and their controllable integration with guest species. It also provides recent advances in the adsorption/enrichment of proteins/peptides, e.g., ordinary proteins, phosphoproteins/phosphopeptides, glycoproteins/glycopeptides, by MOFs-affinity adsorbents under various driving forces. In addition, the challenges and perspectives of MOFs in proteins/peptides enrichment are discussed.