In the 1990s, a technique was developed to transfer proteins from electrophoresis gels onto poly(vinylidene difluoride) (PVDF) membranes, digest the proteins on the membranes with proteases such as trypsin and analyze the resulting peptides on the membranes directly by mass spectrometry to identify the proteins. This technique, based on gel electrophoresis, is particularly useful for analyzing protein isoforms, splicing variants and post-translationally modified proteins. Previously, the low ionization efficiency of peptides immobilized on the membranes often rendered this technique useless. However, this technique has been improved by the use of PVDF membranes with a small pore size, which has enabled highly efficient and effective electroblotting and mass spectrometric analyses. Here, the advantage of this technique is discussed.
Proteomic analyses begin with protein expression profilingProteome research involves the comprehensive analysis of protein expression profiles, the function and functional networks of proteins, and the relationship between proteins and diseases. Upgraded protein databases, and highly sensitive, accurate and high-throughput analytical techniques, such as mass spectrometry (MS), have greatly facilitated and accelerated the development of proteome research.Two standard methods, the protein shotgun method [1] and the 2D electrophoresis (2DE)-MS ⁄ MS method [2], are commonly used in the first step of proteome analysis. In the shotgun method, a sample containing a number of proteins is digested with proteases such as trypsin, which has comparatively high substrate specificity. These digested proteins are separated by liquid chromatography (LC), analyzed by MS ⁄ MS and then identified based on their sequence information. In contrast, in the 2DE-MS ⁄ MS method, most proteins are separated by 2DE, protease-digested in gels and then analyzed by MS [3]. Next, the proteins are identified based on peptide mass fingerprints or on sequence information obtained by MS ⁄ MS and database searches [4].Both methods can profile the expression of a number of proteins. However, the shotgun method has been more frequently used for recent proteomic analyses. The shotgun method typically identifies more proteins than 2DE-MS ⁄ MS. In addition, the shotgun method can be easily automated and therefore does not require professional skills for the analysis. In contrast, 2DE is laborious, and it is not easy for beginners to obtain reproducible results, particularly with the 'in-gel' digestion of proteins after electrophoresis. However, the shotgun method cannot completely replace 2DE-MS ⁄ MS for proteomic studies because 2DE-MS ⁄ MS has several advantages over the shotgun method, as described below.