MS-based technologies for untargeted single-cell proteomics

Single-cell analyses characterize individual cells, allowing their clustering and characterization in an unsupervised manner. Single-cell genomics and transcriptomics dominate the field of single-cell analysis, however, these often do not accurately reflect cellular functions. In contrast, single-cell protein analyses were until recently only performed using antibody-based approaches. This review aims to highlight the recent developments in mass spectrometry-based single-cell proteomics and discuss the challenges and opportunities. Advances in the field hold the promise to impact biomedical research and contribute to the understanding of complex biological systems.