Serum samples from every 10 patients were mixed into one pooled sample for TMT-based quantitative proteomics detection by TMT10plex™ Isobaric Label Reagent Set as previously reported and the schematic representation of the study flow was shown in Fig. 1 [25 (link)]. Benefits of the TMT 10-plex include increased sample multiplexing, improved confidence for the identification and quantification of proteins, and better sample throughput [28 (link)]. The serum proteomic profiling was performed at the GeneChem Co., Ltd. (Shanghai, China) using the Easy nLC chromatographic system and Q Exactive Plus mass spectrometry system (Thermo Fisher Scientific, USA). The detailed experimental procedures are described in the Supplementary Materials and Methods.Fig. 1 ![]()
Schematic representation of the experimental workflow for protein profiling of serum samples.