CHEMICAL LABELING STRATEGIES FOR MASS SPECTROMETRY-BASED BIOMOLECULAR IDENTIFICATION, CHARACTERIZATION AND QUANTIFICATION

Abstract

Advances in the development of mass spectrometry (MS) and tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) instrumentation have made this technique a versatile analytical tool to identify, characterize and quantify biomolecules including peptides, proteins, lipids, nucleic acids, oligosaccharides and other metabolites. However, based on the individual physicochemical properties of various biomolecules, biomolecular MS or MS/MS on its own may not necessarily give the desired analytical information. Therefore, chemical labeling strategies which alter the behavior of analytes with respect to their ionization, fragmentation and mass analysis are commonly used to facilitate MS-based analysis of biomolecules. Thi..