MALDI-TOF-MS for rapid screening analysis of M-protein in serum

Jie Li; Anping Xu; Weijie Xie; Bowen Li; Cunliang Yan; Yong Xia; Chao Liang; Ling Ji

doi:10.3389/fonc.2022.1073479

MALDI-TOF-MS for rapid screening analysis of M-protein in serum

Front Oncol. 2022 Dec 15:12:1073479. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2022.1073479. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Jie Li¹, Anping Xu¹, Weijie Xie¹, Bowen Li¹, Cunliang Yan¹, Yong Xia¹, Chao Liang^{2

3

4}, Ling Ji¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Laboratory Medicine, Peking University Shenzhen Hospital, Shenzhen, China.
² Department of Biology, School of Life Sciences, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China.
³ Institute of Integrated Bioinfomedicine and Translational Science (IBTS), School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Proteomics, National Center for Protein Science (Beijing), Beijing Institute of Lifeomics, Beijing, China.

Abstract

Monoclonal immunoglobin (M-protein) is a serum biomarker for the diagnosis of plasma cell dyscrasias. Despite limitation of analytical sensitivity and resolution, serum protein electrophoresis and immunofixation electrophoresis are still the front-line tests for the detection of M-proteins. Herein, we developed a MALDI-TOF Mass spectrometry-based method for the screening test of M-proteins in human serum. Based on the unique mass signature of different immunoglobin isotypes, M-Proteins could be rapidly identified and typed. The method demonstrated with high analytical performance and throughput, rapid and simple, which could be a new choice for the diagnosis of plasma cell dyscrasias.

Keywords: M-protein; MALDI-TOF-MS; plasma cell dyscrasias; screening test; serum.