MudPIT Analysis: Application to Human Heart Tissue

Although two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2D-PAGE) has been used as the standard proteomic approach for separating proteins in a complex mixture, this technique has many drawbacks. These include a limited molecular mass range, poor separation of highly acidic or basic proteins, and exclusion of the majority of membrane proteins from analysis. Considering the important functions of many membrane proteins, such as receptors, ion transporters, signal transducers, and cell adhesion proteins, it is increasingly important that these proteins are not excluded during the global proteomic analysis of cellular systems. Mu ltid imensional P rotein I dentification T echnology (MudPIT) offers a gel-free alternative to 2D-PAGE for the analysis of both membrane and soluble proteins.