The iTRAQ-labeled mixture was first separated by an ICAT
TM strong cation-exchange cartridge (AB SCIEX, FosterCity, CA, USA) according to the manufacturer’s instructions. After being desalted by Ultramicrospin
TM columns (The Nest Group, Southborough, MA, USA), the eluted fractions were spotted and mixed with a MALDI matrix solution (5 mg/mL α-Cyano-4-hydroxycinnamic acid (CHCA) in 70% acetonitrile and 0.1% v/v TFA) with the
nano-LC 1D plus (Eksigent, Redwood, CA, USA).
The sample spots were analyzed using a
5800 MALDI TOF/TOF Analyzer (AB SCIEX, FosterCity, CA, USA). Seven hundred and fifty laser shots were accumulated from each sample well, and the precursor ions were selected from MS spectra ranged from 800 to 4000 Da. MS/MS analysis was achieved with air used as the collision gas with a collision energy of 2 kV.
All MS data were analyzed using ProteinPilot software v4.0.8085 (AB SCIEX, FosterCity, CA, USA) using the Paragon algorithm 4.0.0.0 searched against the Uniprot human protein database.
Guo H., Dong J., Hu S., Cai X., Tang G., Dou J., Tian M., He F., Nie Y, & Fan D. (2015). Biased random walk model for the prioritization of drug resistance associated proteins. Scientific Reports, 5, 10857.