Digestion, Purification, and Enrichment of Protein Samples for Mass Spectrometry.

Proteomic studies rely heavily on the use of liquid chromatography (LC)-mass spectrometry (MS and MS/MS) analyses to provide information about protein composition and function. Profiling the proteome can be the first step to understanding biological pathways, but the challenges scientists face with the complex nature of proteins and proteolysis products can be daunting. Techniques involving fractionation, immunoprecipitation, and phosphopeptide enrichment can simplify complex protein mixtures and enhance the amount of target proteins that are important to the investigator.