Perspectives of targeted mass spectrometry for protein biomarker verification

The identification of specific biomarkers will improve the early diagnosis of disease, facilitate the development of targeted therapies, and provide an accurate method to monitor treatment response. A major challenge in the process of verifying biomarker candidates in blood plasma is the complexity and high dynamic range of proteins. This article reviews the current, targeted proteomic strategies that are capable of quantifying biomarker candidates at concentration ranges where biomarkers are expected in plasma (i.e. at the ng/ml level). In addition, a workflow is presented that allows the fast and definitive generation of targeted mass spectrometry-based assays for most biomarker candidate proteins. These assays are stored in publicly accessible databases and have the potential to greatly impact the throughput of biomarker verification studies.