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Protein quantification, identification, and abundance determination are important aspects of proteome characterization and are crucial in understanding biological mechanisms and human diseases. Different strategies are available to quantify proteins using mass spectrometric detection, and most are performed at the peptide level and include both targeted and untargeted methodologies. Discovery-based or untargeted approaches oftentimes use covalent tagging strategies (i.e., iTRAQ, TMT), where reporter ion signals collected in the tandem MS experiment are used for quantification. Herein we investigate the behavior of the iTRAQ 8-plex chemistry using MALDI-TOF/TOF instrumentation. The experimental design and data analysis approach described is simple and straightforward, which allows researchers to optimize data collection and proper analysis within a laboratory. iTRAQ reporter ion signals were normalized within each spectrum to remove peptide biases. An advantage of this approach is that missing reporter ion values can be accepted for purposes of protein identification and quantification without the need for ANOVA analysis. We investigate the distribution of reporter ion peak areas in an equimolar system and a mock biological system and provide recommendations for establishing fold-change cutoff values at the peptide level for iTRAQ data sets. These data provide a unique data set available to the community for informatics training and analysis.

The greatest unmet needs in biomarker discovery are those discoveries that lead to the development of clinical diagnostic tests. These clinical diagnostic tests can provide early intervention when a patient would present otherwise healthy (e.g., cancer or cardiovascular disease) and aid clinical decision making with improved clinical outcomes. The past two decades have seen significant technological improvements in the analytical capabilities of mass spectrometers. Mass spectrometers are unique in that they can directly analyze any biological molecule susceptible to ionization. The biological studies of human metabolites and proteins using contemporary mass spectrometry technology (metabolomics and proteomics, respectively) has been ongoing for over a decade. Some of these studies have resulted in exciting insights into human biology. However, relatively few biomarkers have been translated into clinical tests. This review will discuss some key technological developments that have occurred over this time with an emphasis on technologies that will create new avenues for biomarker discovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]