Abstract
Mass spectrometry is a powerful tool in the hand of life science researchers, who constantly develop and apply new methods for the investigation of biomolecules, such as proteins, peptides, metabolites, lipids, and glycans. In this review, we will discuss the importance of mass spectrometry for the life science sector, with a special focus on the most relevant current applications in the field of proteomics. Moreover, we will comment on the factors that research groups should consider when setting up a mass spectrometry laboratory, and on the fundamental role played by academic core facilities and industrial service providers.
Highlights
Technological Developments Enabling today’s Use of Mass SpectrometryAlready in 1959, the first application of electron ionization mass spectrometry to peptide sequencing was published by the group of K
Mass spectrometry is a powerful tool in the hand of life science researchers, who constantly develop and apply new methods for the investigation of biomolecules, such as proteins, peptides, metabolites, lipids, and glycans
4.4.1 Limited Proteolysis Limited proteolysis followed by mass spectrometry analysis (LiP-Mass spectrometry (MS)) is a proteomics approach that enables the identification of structural changes of proteins on a proteome-wide scale and directly in biological extracts.[39]
Summary
Already in 1959, the first application of electron ionization mass spectrometry to peptide sequencing was published by the group of K. Quadrupole ion traps and later linear ion traps equipped with electrospray ion sources are another type of mass spectrometers that have been and still are in wide use for peptide and protein analysis.[7] Their mass resolution and accuracy are relatively low, but they provide rapid and highly sensitive fragment ion scanning. MS instruments with high resolution and high mass accuracy analyzers were developed, most notably quadrupole time-of-flight[8] and Orbitrap[9] mass spectrometers, which provided high sensitivity and high acquisition speed These substantial improvements increased confidence in the identification of peptides and post-translational modifications. In a standard proteome analysis performed on this instrument, intact peptide ions are analyzed in the Orbitrap with high mass accuracy, and the less abundant fragment ions are typically analyzed in the linear ion trap, which provides low detection limits even at high scan speed. The label-free quantification experiments have the advantages that the number of samples is not limited, samples can be of any origin, and all MS/MS fragmentation techniques are applicable
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