Mass spectrometry-based proteomics in the life sciences

Over the last 20 years, mass spectrometry-based proteomics has become an indispensable tool in the cellular and molecular life sciences. This has been enabled by the 'soft ionisation' techniques of electrospray and matrix-assisted laser desorption-ionisation, which allow the gentle ionisation and vaporisation of large, thermally labile biomolecules. Innovative instrumentation designs and biochemical strategies have brought success in the large-scale identification and quantification of proteins, as well as the characterisation of their complexes and post-translational modifications. This review describes the instrumentation used for proteomics research. It presents an overview of the current applications of mass spectrometry-based proteomics to the cellular and molecular life sciences, and discusses challenges that exist for research in the future.