Integration of Chromatography and Peptide Mass Modification for Quantitative Proteomics

In the past few years the field of quantitative proteomics has generated intense interest by promising to determine the protein expression differences of 100s, and eventually 1000s, of proteins between two samples. A wide variety of methods have been reported, which alter protein/peptide masses in a fashion compatible with mass spectrometry. Each method modifies the masses of proteins/peptides at different points in an experimental scheme, providing a researcher with a variety of tools to choose from. When these methods are coupled with chromatography based approaches to proteomics, the relative abundances of 100s of proteins may currently be determined. As chromatography based proteomics advances and is coupled with the protein/peptide mass modification methods described herein, the hope is that comprehensive quantitative proteomic analyses will be possible on cells from any organism grown in culture or extracted from a tissue.