A "proteomic ruler" for protein copy number and concentration estimation without spike-in standards.

ABSTRACT: Absolute protein quantification using mass spectrometry (MS)-based proteomics delivers protein concentrations or copy numbers per cell. Existing methodologies typically require a combination of isotope-labeled spike-in references, cell counting, and protein concentration measurements. Here we present a novel method that delivers similar quantitative results directly from deep eukaryotic proteome datasets without any additional experimental steps. We show that the MS signal of histones can be used as a "proteomic ruler" because it is proportional to the amount of DNA in the sample, which in turn depends on the number of cells. As a result, our proteomic ruler approach adds an absolute scale to the MS readout and allows estimation of the copy numbers of individual proteins per cell. We compa

SUBMITTER: Wisniewski JR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4256500 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature