How Can You Improve Protein Digests for Mass Spectrometry Analysis?

The trypsin protease cleaves proteins on the carboxyterminus of Arginine (Arg) and Lysine (Lys). This cleavage reaction leaves a positive charge on the C-terminus of the resulting peptide, which enhances mass spectrometry analysis (1,2). Because of this advantage, trypsin has become the most commonly used protease for mass spectrometry analysis. Other proteases which cleave differently […]

Making Life Better for Man’s Best Friend: Onchocerca lupi Biomarker Characterization by Mass Spec

A tiny worm called Onchocerca lupi can make life uncomfortable for both humans and their best friends. This thread-like nematode is found in the eyes or under the skin of infected animals. Historically, diagnosis required skin biopsy or surgical removal of ocular tissue, but a recent study demonstrates a new non-invasive diagnostic tool for infection […]

Mass Spec for Glycosylation Analysis of SARS-CoV-2 Proteins Implicated in Host-Cell Entry

The spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus is a very commonly researched target in COVID-19 vaccine and therapeutic studies because it is an integral part of host cell entry through interactions between the S1 subunit of the spike protein with the ACE2 protein on the target cell surface. Viral proteins important in host cell entry […]

New Recombinant Asp-N Mass Spec Protease: Improved Format and Reduced Price

Asp-N is a endoproteinase hydrolyzes peptide bonds on the N-terminal side of aspartic residues. The native form is isolated from Pseudomonas fragi. The majority of vendors currently provide a commercial product that consists of 2µg of lyophilized material in a flat bottom vial, and sold for $175–200 US. Formatting such a small amount of material […]

Mass Spec Analysis of PTMs Using Minimal Sample Material

DNA is organized by protein:DNA complexes called nucleosomes in eukaryotes. Nucleosomes are composed of 147 base pairs of DNA wrapped around a histone octamer containing two copies of each core histone protein. Histone proteins play significant roles in many nuclear processes including transcription, DNA damage repair and heterochromatin formation. Histone proteins are extensively and dynamically […]

Analysis of a biosimilar mAb using Mass Spectrometry

Several pharmaceutical companies have biosimilar versions of therapeutic mAbs in development. Biosimilars can promise significant cost savings for patients, but the unavoidable differences between the original and thencopycat biologic raise questions regarding product interchangeability. Both innovator mAbs and biosimilars are heterogeneous populations of variants characterized by differences in glycosylation,oxidation, deamidation, glycation, and aggregation state. Their […]

Filter-Aided Sample Preparation before Mass Spec Analysis: An Evaluation of FASP and eFASP

Filter-aided sample preparation (FASP) method is used for the on-filter digestion of proteins prior to mass-spectrometry-based analyses (1,2). FASP was designed for the removal of detergents, and chaotropes that were used for sample preparation. In addition, FASP removes components such as salts, nucleic acids and lipids. Akylation of reduced cysteine residues is also carried out on filter, […]

How Confident are You in Your Mass Spectrometry Data?

Data generated by scientific instruments and decisions based on that data depend on optimal instrument performance. Clinical assays rely on mass spectrometric (MS) data for accurate results so that correct health related results are gained and appropriate results-based decisions are made. However, there are no generally agreed upon tools nor performance standards for mass spectrometry. […]

Mass Spectrometry Application: Antibody Quantitation for Preclinical PK studies

Therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) represent the majority of therapeutics biologics now on the market, with more than 20 mAbs approved as drugs (1–3). During preclinical development of therapeutic antibodies, multiple variants of each antibody are assessed for pharmacokinetic (PK) characteristics across model systems such as rodents, beagles and  primates. Ligand-binding assays (LBA) are the standard technology used to […]

Free Webinar: Protein Reference Materials for Mass Spectrometry

Once the domain of analytical chemistry labs, mass spectrometry instruments are now used in basic life science research, drug discovery research, environmental and industrial laboratories, and in many other biological laboratories. These instruments, which are used to perform critical analyses, need to be monitored for performance and quality. How do you determine the system suitability […]