Accurate mass measurements in proteomics

Mass spectrometry is one of the most important tools in the postgenome era, changing from simply obtaining molecular mass information to a versatile platform for measuring the constituents and dynamics of biological systems. Increasingly robust biochemical methods are continuously being developed for enriching low-abundance proteins and for isolating specific protein complexes prior to MS analysis. High-resolution separations that employ very small inner diameter columns, as well as the use of microfluidics and improved ESI sources can provide improved sensitivity and quantitation. Further, more efficient transmission from the source into and through the MS analyzer is obtained using an electrodynamic ion funnel. In addition, continued improvements in data analysis algorithms are required to reduce the false discovery rate (FDR) of identifications, better deal with the ambiguities in identifications, and increase the true positive rates.