Cedars Sinai Team Develops Method for Quantitative Label-Free Proteomics Without LC Separation

A team led by scientists at Cedars Sinai Medical Center has developed a label-free quantitative proteomics workflow capable of measuring thousands of proteins without upfront liquid chromatography separation.

Using the method, which was detailed in a study published last month in Analytical Chemistry, the researchers identified more than 2,000 proteins and quantified roughly 1,000 proteins in HeLa and 2937 cell lysate samples with a throughput of around 300 samples per day.

Such direct infusion mass spectrometry workflows are still niche within proteomics, with only a small number of labs exploring such approaches, but emerging technologies in sample handling and ion mobility as well as advances in mass spec instrumentation could drive future adoption.

The Cedars Sinai team now plans to explore applications of the method including high-throughput drug screening and protein biomarker assays, said Jesse Meyer, assistant professor at Cedars Sinai and senior author on the Analytical Chemistry paper.