Mass Spectrometry -A Powerful Tool for Modern Analysis

Mass spectrometry is a technique used to find and identify proteins and other molecules in biological samples. It can also help in studying how proteins interact with each other. In this method, a molecule is broken into charged pieces. These pieces(ions) are then moved, separated, and detected based on their mass-to-charge (m/z) ratio. The detector shows how many ions are present by measuring their signals. This chapter also explains the common problems that can occur while collecting raw data and how the data is processed to read the mass spectrum. First, peaks are selected from a survey scan. These peaks are then studied in MS/MS to find the mass of peptide fragments. The fragments are matched with a database to get a peptide score. Finally, proteins are identified from the correctly matched peptides