Identification of Proteins by Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Mass Spectrometry Using Peptide and Fragment Ion Masses

Methods for the identification of proteins have advanced dramatically this decade through the introduction of mass spectrometric techniques and instrumentation sensitive enough to be applicable to biological systems (1 ). The two mass spectrometric techniques that have provided these advantages are electrospray-ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) (see Chapters 52 , 54 , and 55 ).