iTRAQ analysis of a cell culture model for malignant transformation, including comparison with 2D-PAGE and SILAC.

To study human cancer development, cell culture models for malignant transformation can be used. In 1999 Hahn and Coworkers introduced such a model system and established herewith a basis for research on human tumorigenesis. Primary human fibroblasts are sequentially transduced with defined genetic elements (hTERT, SV40 ER, and H-RasV12), resulting in four defined cell lines, whereby the last has a fully transformed phenotype.

jTraqX: a free, platform independent tool for isobaric tag quantitation at the protein level.

Many proteomic studies focus on quantitative aspects, using different stable isotope labeling techniques that require specialized software to analyze the generated data. Here we present jTraqX, an easy-to-use tool for processing and visualizing protein quantification data. jTraqX is platform independent and is compatible with all available 4-plex isobaric tags.

Precise protein quantification based on peptide quantification using iTRAQ.

Background: Mass spectrometry based quantification of peptides can be performed using the iTRAQ reagent in conjunction with mass spectrometry. This technology yields information about the relative abundance of single peptides. A method for the calculation of reliable quantification information is required in order to obtain biologically relevant data at the protein expression level.

A comprehensive dictionary of protein accession codes for complete protein accession identifier alias resolving.

In mass spectrometry-based proteomics, protein identification results usually consist of peptide sequences and database-dependent accession identifiers of the matching proteins. Often certain annotations are only available in particular databases that in turn must be queried by a certain identifier. In order to simplify and unify the tracing of identified proteins back to their original annotation information, a system capable of set-oriented mapping the different accession identifiers of proteins derived from multiple sequence database sources has been developed.

Proteomic analysis of the yeast mitochondrial outer membrane reveals accumulation of a subclass of preproteins.

Mitochondria consist of four compartments-outer membrane, intermembrane space, inner membrane, and matrix--with crucial but distinct functions for numerous cellular processes. A comprehensive characterization of the proteome of an individual mitochondrial compartment has not been reported so far. We used a eukaryotic model organism, the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, to determine the proteome of highly purified mitochondrial outer membranes.

Efficient analysis and extraction of MS/MS result data from Mascot result files.

Background: Mascot is a commonly used protein identification program for MS as well as for tandem MS data. When analyzing huge shotgun proteomics datasets with Mascot's native tools, limits of computing resources are easily reached. Up to now no application has been available as open source that is capable of converting the full content of Mascot result files from the original MIME format into a database-compatible tabular format, allowing direct import into database management systems and efficient handling of huge datasets analyzed by Mascot.

Extractor for ESI quadrupole TOF tandem MS data enabled for high throughput batch processing.

Background: Mass spectrometry based proteomics result in huge amounts of data that has to be processed in real time in order to efficiently feed identification algorithms and to easily integrate in automated environments. We present wiff2dta, a tool created to convert MS/MS data obtained using Applied Biosystem's QStar and QTrap 2000 and 4000 series.

Results: Comparing the performance of wiff2dta with the standard tools, we find wiff2dta being the fastest solution for extracting spectrum data from ABIs raw file format.

Command line tool for calculating theoretical MS spectra for given sequences.

Unlabelled: Scientists usually want to verify the ion matching process of algorithms that look up peptide sequences in DNA or protein databases. The verification step is often done numerically or visually. Not all search algorithms present the appropriate theoretical spectrum information within their results.