Fan Kai-Ting, Hsu Chia-Wei, Chen Yet-Ran
Agricultural Biotechnology Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan.
Mass Spectrom Rev. 2023 Nov-Dec;42(6):2404-2425. doi: 10.1002/mas.21789. Epub 2022 Jun 29.
Endogenous peptide hormones represent an essential class of biomolecules, which regulate cell-cell communications in diverse physiological processes of organisms. Mass spectrometry (MS) has been developed to be a powerful technology for identifying and quantifying peptides in a highly efficient manner. However, it is difficult to directly identify these peptide hormones due to their diverse characteristics, dynamic regulations, low abundance, and existence in a complicated biological matrix. Here, we summarize and discuss the roles of targeted and untargeted MS in discovering peptide hormones using bioassay-guided purification, bioinformatics screening, or the peptidomics-based approach. Although the peptidomics approach is expected to discover novel peptide hormones unbiasedly, only a limited number of successful cases have been reported. The critical challenges and corresponding measures for peptidomics from the steps of sample preparation, peptide extraction, and separation to the MS data acquisition and analysis are also discussed. We also identify emerging technologies and methods that can be integrated into the discovery platform toward the comprehensive study of endogenous peptide hormones.
内源性肽激素是一类重要的生物分子，它们在生物体的各种生理过程中调节细胞间通讯。质谱（MS）已发展成为一种能够高效识别和定量肽的强大技术。然而，由于这些肽激素具有多样的特性、动态调节、低丰度以及存在于复杂的生物基质中，因此难以直接鉴定它们。在这里，我们总结并讨论了靶向和非靶向质谱在使用生物测定指导纯化、生物信息学筛选或基于肽组学的方法发现肽激素中的作用。尽管肽组学方法有望无偏倚地发现新型肽激素，但目前仅有有限数量的成功案例报道。我们还讨论了从样品制备、肽提取和分离到质谱数据采集与分析等肽组学步骤中的关键挑战及相应措施。我们还确定了可以整合到发现平台中用于对内源性肽激素进行全面研究的新兴技术和方法。
