Important issues in planning a proteomics experiment: statistical considerations of quantitative proteomic data.

Mass spectrometry is frequently used in quantitative proteomics to detect differentially regulated proteins. A very important but unfortunately oftentimes neglected part in detecting differential proteins is the statistical analysis. Data from proteomics experiments are usually high-dimensional and hence require profound statistical methods. It is especially important to already correctly design a proteomic experiment before it is conducted in the laboratory. Only this can ensure that the statistical analysis is capable of detecting truly differential proteins afterwards. This chapter thus covers aspects of both statistical planning and the actual analysis of quantitative proteomic experiments.