Mass spectrometry-based proteomics in the life sciences.

Over the last 20 years, mass spectrometrybased proteomics has become an indispensable tool in the cellular and molecular life sciences. This has been enabled by the ‘soft ionisation’ techniques of electrospray and matrix-assisted laser desorption-ionisation, which allow the gentle ionisation and vaporisation of large, thermally labile biomolecules. Innovative instrumentation designs and biochemical strategies have brought success in the large-scale identification and quantification of proteins, as well as the characterisation of their complexes and post-translational modifications. This review describes the instrumentation used for proteomics research. It presents an overview of the current applications of mass spectrometry-based proteomics to the cellular and molecular life sciences, and discusses challenges that exist for research in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]