Introduction to Biological Mass Spectrometry:Determining Identity and Species of Origin of Two Proteins

摘要

The dramatic demonstration of mass spectrometry (MS) of arbitrarily large proteins by John Fenn,Koichi Tanaka,and others was recognized by the 2002 Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1).MS of proteins and peptides has now become a central feature of bioanalytical chemistry,with a high profile in protein identification and characterization and comprising the central assay in the generic experiment shown in Figure 1B.One of the new buzzwords today is "systems biology"- looking at an organism as a complex machine with a multitude of interacting parts.Since most of these interacting parts are proteins,MS is now used to identify hundreds to thousands of proteins per day,in an "industrial strength" approach (2).The goal is nothing less than solving a central biological mystery-cracking the "second code of life".