Miniatuized proteomics and pepitdomics using capillary liquid separation and high mass spectrometry

Knowledge of the protein and peptide content in a tissue or a body fluid is vital in many areas of medical and biomedical sciences. Information from proteomic and peptidomic studies may reveal alterations in expression due to, e.g., a disease and facilitate the understanding of the pathophysioligy and the identification of biological markers. In this minreview, we discuss miniaturized protemic and peptidomic approaches that have been applied in our laboratory in order to investigate the protein and peptide contents of body fluids (such as plasma, cerebrospinal and amniotic fluid), as well as extracted tissues. The methods involve minaturized liquid seperation, i.e., capillary liquid chromotography and cappilary electrophoresis, combined with high resolution mass spectrometry (MS), i.e., Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance MS. These approaches provide the opportunity to analyze samples of small volumes with high throughput, high sensitivity, good dynamic range and minimal sample handling. Also, the experiences are relatively easy to automate. (C) 2004 Federation of European Biochemical Societies. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.