Electrophoresis and liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry in disease biomarker discovery

The search for disease markers is not new; however, with the emergence of new technologies such as nano-HPLC and electrospray ionization and time of flight mass spectrometry, the search has intensified considerably. Genomic, proteomic and metabolomic technologies are being used to search for novel disease markers. In this manuscript emphasis will be on different HPLC and MS methods that are used to search for metabolites and proteins that can be used for the discovery of novel, sensitive and specific disease biomarkers. Definitions of terms such as sensitivity, specificity, and protein profiles will be given. Methods used for effective fractionation, separation and quantitation of proteins and peptides using HPLC/MS will be discussed and examples are presented. A brief discussion of electrophoretic procedures used for protein fractionation and biomarker discovery is also included.