Dear Colleagues,

The diversity of biological materials used for proteomics analyses requires different sample preparation techniques for achieving optimal results in terms of material yield and number of identified protein and peptide species. Sample preparation becomes even more important when looking into posttranslational modifications on peptides and proteins requiring special treatment depending on the modification.

Chromatographic separation of proteins and peptides hyphenated to a mass spectrometer is the state-of-the-art approach for analysis of extracted peptides and proteins. Different types of chemistries and modifications of the stationary phase packed in columns of internal diameters ranging from 50–4.6 mm are available for separation of peptides and proteins. Although the separation using nano separation columns, i.e., 50–100 nm internal diameter, is the most widely used approach; a range of columns with larger internal diameter is usually applied for sample fractionation and depletion of high abundance proteins. 

In addition to HPLC, a range of electrophoresis and one and two-dimensional gel-electrophoresis approaches are used.

All these analytical approaches, however, strongly depend on the quality of the sample preparation step. This Special Issue is dedicated to the sample preparation of biological specimens for proteomics and proteomics-related analyses, and the separation technologies applied. It shall provide a comprehensive summary of actual techniques and technologies applied and inspire further work in improving either approach.

Dr. Goran Mitulović
Guest Editor

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• protein extraction 
• peptide extraction 
• protein depletion 
• multidimensional chromatography
• fast HPLC 
• ultrafast HPLC 
• monolithic columns
• stationary phases 
• electrophoresis
• gel-electrophoresis 
• MALDI imaging