Clinical OMICs - Volume 3, Issue 9 - 14

(continued from previous page) for conducting effective analyses 3. In this case, immunoprecipitation using MS-Compatible Magnetic IP Kits for MS applications resulted in a higher yield of AKT-mTOR pathway target proteins and reduced the yield of non-specific binding proteins. The development of LC-MS based assays like this can lead to advances in high-confidence target identification and also enables researchers to simultaneously quantify multiple targets (and their modifications). Studies have also demonstrated that LC-MS can provide maximum depth in protein sampling, while simultaneously providing analyses scalable to clinical cohorts. One project showed that a data-independent acquisition (DIA) workflow allows for the analysis of patient cohorts of up to 400 individuals. In addition, the analysis from FFPE cores produced quantitative data for more than 3,000 proteins each, indicating minimal tissue is required for analysis4. Similarly, clinical researchers continue to demonstrate why LC-MS is often more useful when looking to detect steroid hormones with increased sensitivity. As an example, a key challenge for researchers has been to reduce antibody cross-reactivity between closely related endogenous steroids when using immunoassays. Therefore, the majority of endocrine laboratories are adopting LC-MS-based assays, as their enhanced specificity allows researchers to distinguish between structurally related compounds such as total 14 Clinical OMICs September 2016 We hope you are enjoying your trial subscription Register here to continue your free subscription and free testosterone. It is also helping with the detection of hormones found at low systemic concentrations, such as testosterone in females and hypogonadal males (for review, see Kushnir et al, 2010)5. Benefits for Diagnostic Laboratories LC-MS systems exhibit superior selectivity for target analytes, as their presence is ascertained via a combination of at least two characteristics-their precursor and product ion mass. The systems also allow for lower detection limits for analytes such as steroids and therapeutic drugs when compared to conventional immunological methods e.g. ELISA and RIA. Conventional assays used within a hospital's diagnostic lab have focused mainly on clinical chemistry and immunoassay technology, but both can suffer from several limitations resulting in inconsistencies, namely issues with analyte specificity and lotto-lot variation between assays and reagents. Considered "reagent-free' "n how they operate, LC-MS systems minimize waste and have running costs one-fifth that of conventional immunoassays. They do, however, require validated laboratory-developed tests or commercially available kits, the latter of which have not been readily available to date. While not all diagnostic applications are yet considered routine, LC-MS technology enables the precise and high throughput analyses of patient samples, providing physicians with the answers they need. Early adopters have seen the benefits of this technology for specific applications and, directly or indirectly, they have supported the development of further assays and technologies to enable its application to more routine clinical analyses. www.clinicalomics.com http://www.sub-forms.com/dragon/init.do?site=GNP147_GOdigitaln http://www.clinicalomics.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clinical OMICs - Volume 3, Issue 9