Transformative opportunities for single-cell proteomics
A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.
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Abstract
Many pressing medical challenges - such as diagnosing disease, enhancing directed stem cell differentiation, and classifying cancers - have long been hindered by limitations in our ability to quantify proteins in single cells. Mass-spectrometry (MS) is poised to transcend these limitations by developing powerful methods to routinely quantify thousands of proteins and proteoforms across many thousands of single cells. We outline specific technological developments and ideas that can increase the sensitivity and throughput of single cell MS by orders of magnitude and usher in this new age. These advances will transform medicine and ultimately contribute to understanding biological systems on an entirely new level.
Cite this as
2018. Transformative opportunities for single-cell proteomics. PeerJ Preprints 6:e26821v2 https://doi.org/10.7287/peerj.preprints.26821v2note This preprint is not peer-reviewed. You may wish to reference the subsequent peer-reviewed version of this article.
Author comment
This perspective outlines specific ideas and technologies that can realize transformative opportunities in single-cell proteomics by mass-spectrometry. We added references and clarifications.
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Competing Interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Author Contributions
Harrison Specht prepared figures and/or tables, authored or reviewed drafts of the paper, approved the final draft.
Nikolai Slavov prepared figures and/or tables, authored or reviewed drafts of the paper, approved the final draft.
Data Deposition
The following information was supplied regarding data availability:
The research in this article did not generate any data or code.
Funding
This work was funded by startup funds from Northeastern University and a New Innovator Award from the NIGMS from the National Institutes of Health to N.S. under Award Number DP2GM123497. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
