A variable flow "peak trapping" liquid chromatography (LC) interface has been developed for the coupling of nanoscale LC to electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). The presented peak trapping LC interface allows for the extended analysis time of co-eluting compounds and has been employed for the identification of proteins via tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). The variable flow process can be controlled either manually or in a completely automated manner where the mass spectrometer status determines the status of the variable flow interface. When the mass spectrometer operates in MS survey mode, the interface is operated in a so-called "high-flow" mode. Alternatively, the interface is operated in a "low-flow" mode during MS/MS analysis. In the "high-flow" mode of the variable flow process the column flow rate is typically around 200 nL/min, whereas in the "low-flow" mode the column effluent is introduced into the source of the mass spectrometer at 25 nL/min. In addition to the flow reduction during MS/MS analysis, the gradient is paused to preserve the peptide separation on the analytical nanoscale LC column. T he field of protein mass spectrometry has undergone a major paradigm shift over the past several years, moving from the analysis of individual proteins to the analysis of total digests of complex protein mixtures (also know as shotgun proteomics). The development of shotgun proteomics by Yates [1-3] couples nanoscale LC for peptide analysis [4,5], automated MS to MS/MS data acquisition software and hardware on modern tandem mass spectrometers [6], along with automated database searching software of modern search engines [7,8]. Shotgun proteomics has significantly increased the information content of protein mass spectrometry experiments, while at the same time significantly reducing the total analysis time required to analyze a complex protein mixture. Improvements in sample sensitivity and proteome coverage have been observed with this approach, compared to the "traditional" approach of using 2-D gels to separate the proteins, followed by in-gel digestion and analysis of the resulting peptides by mass spectrometry [3]. The shift in approach from the MS and MS/MS analysis of individual proteins to the analysis of complex mixtures of proteins has lead to the most significant figure of merit in proteomic analysis becoming the extent of proteome coverage obtained. Analytical methods that increase the coverage of the proteins in a sample will increase the impact of proteomics on biology.For a typical 50 kD protein, one would expect to have on the order of 40 -50 tryptic peptides. Characterization of the complex mixture of peptides resulting from a total digest of a complex protein mixture requires the mass spectrometric analysis of hundreds to many thousands of peptides. Clearly, the MS and MS/MS analysis of a sample comprised of hundreds to thousands of proteins is challenging. Modern mass spectrometers with data dependent scanning software are capable of acquiring MS and MS/MS data from many hund...