Advancing Bottom Up Proteomics And Ptm Characterization Via Development Of Novel Mass Spectrometry Based Approaches

Mass spectrometry (MS) has emerged as a central technology for biomedical research largely due to its capability to provide unprecedented insights into the compositions and structures of the proteome. Thousands of proteins and peptides can be characterized in a single experiment, shedding lights on the complex biological processes and enabling discovery of novel therapeutic targets. This dissertation is devoted to the development of novel liquid chromatography (LC)-MS based techniques to characterize proteins and decipher post-translational modifications (PTMs) qualitatively and quantitatively. Specifically, novel sample preparation strategy has been developed for improved sample recovery and unbiased extraction of different categories of proteins. State-of-the-art hybrid fragmentation methods have been established for large scale differentiation of 3- and 4- hydroxyproline isomers. Furthermore, an integrated pipeline for in-depth investigation of protein glycosylation has been developed and implemented. These innovative analytical methodologies have been successfully demonstrated and applied to comprehensive characterization of biological scaffolds and breast cancer cells, which provide valuable insights into multiple research areas including tissue engineering and cancer biology.