Capillary Electrophoresis-Mass Spectrometry for Proteomics

Abstract This chapter describes the impact of advances in capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry in the field of proteomics based on bottom-up and top-down strategies and their general workflows. In spite of continuous development in the technique of coupled capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry, some issues remain including standardization to compete with liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry methods. One of the main advantages of the technique in proteomics is its ability to resolve and identify isoforms and posttranslational modifications based on differential electrophoretic migration. Together with examples of specific applications, showing the diverse MS interfaces and operating conditions used, the discussion also deals with the strategies applied to overcome protein adsorption and improve the number of protein identifications.