Antibody-free workflows for protein quantification by LC–MS/MS

This article is available for members, for free, to celebrate Nico van der Merbel being awarded the BOSCA – Excellence in research. Antibody-free approaches for quantitative LC–MS/MS-based protein bioanalysis are reviewed and critically evaluated, and compared with the more widely used immunoaffinity-based approaches. Antibody-free workflows will be divided into four groups and discussed in the following order: direct analysis of signature peptides after proteolytic digestion; enrichment of target proteins and signature peptides by fractionated protein precipitation; enrichment of target proteins and signature peptides by reversed-phase and ion-exchange solid-phase extraction; and enrichment of target proteins and signature peptides by (antibody-free) affinity-solid-phase...