Rainbow's end: the quest for multiplexed fluorescence quantitative analysis in proteomics

During the past two years, the performance of fluorescence-based protein detection methods has demonstrably eclipsed conventional technologies such as colloidal Coomassie Blue and silver staining with respect to detection sensitivity, quantitative accuracy and compatibility with modern protein identification and characterization procedures. At this point, fluorescence-based methods are poised to offer unprecedented new capabilities in proteomics investigations through the performance of multi-parameter quantitative measurements. The feasibility of such measurements has already been demonstrated through the specific detection of antibiotic-binding proteins, drug-metabolizing enzymes or post-translationally glycosylated proteins, along with the total protein expression profile from electrophoretically separated, complex biological specimens.