Heteroatom(isotope)-tagged proteomics via ICP-MS: screening and quantification of proteins and their post-translational modifications

A inductively coupled plasma-mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS) is one of the selective method to track any heteroelement in a biomolecule, such as peptide or protein. The ICP-MS cased elemental determination can be extended in many cases to calculate the corresponding peptide or protein concentrations. The exceptional characteristics of ICP-MS detection are more advantageous for metals, semimetals, and also some biologically important nonmetals, which providing a more powerful mean for screening and/ or quantification of any of those heteroatoms naturally occurring in a protein. The ability of ICP-MS for simulation isotope abundance measurements has open new ways for metabolism studies and quantification of proteins, peptides, and amino acids. One of the most interesting applications of using an ICP-MS for biomolecules detection is the possibility of a fast screening of the presence or absence of many heteroatoms in a given separated protein.