Mucopolysaccharidosis IIIA (MPS IIIA) is a lysosomal storage disorder (LSD) caused by deficiency of N-sulphoglucosamine sulphohydrolase, which one four enzymes involved in heparan sulfate degradation. Traditional methods used for MPS diagnostics usually constitute selective screening, based on the analysis urinary glycosaminoglycans, further enzymatic assays leukocytes, and mutation analysis. N...

Direct mass spectrometric analysis of complex biological samples is becoming an increasingly useful technique in the field of proteomics. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectroscopy (MALDI-MS) is a rapid and sensitive analytical tool well suited for obtaining molecular weights of peptides and proteins from complex samples. Here, a fast and simple approach to cellular protein p...

BACKGROUND Protein profiling with high-throughput sample preparation and MALDI-TOF MS analysis is a new potential tool for diagnosis of human diseases. However, analytical reproducibility is a significant challenge in MALDI protein profiling. This minireview summarizes studies of reproducibility of MALDI protein profiling and current approaches to improve its analytical performance. METHODS T...

Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization (MALDI) Mass Spectrometry (MS) with a computer-controlled xy-stage in the ionization source can be used to detect the presence, approximate amount and location of small molecules, lipids, peptides and proteins in tissue samples through in vitro molecular imaging, often referred to as MALDI imaging. Both MALDI Time-of-flight/Time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF/T...

BACKGROUND MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry (MS) is a reliable method for bacteria identification. Some databases used for this purpose lack reference profiles for Brucella species, which is still an important pathogen in wide areas around the world. We report the creation of profiles for MALDI-TOF Biotyper 2.0 database (Bruker Daltonics, Germany) and their usefulness for identifying brucellae from ...

BACKGROUND The routine diagnosis of Streptococcus spp. and other mastitis associated gram-positive, catalase-negative cocci is still based upon biochemical tests and serological methods, which frequently provide ambiguous identification results. We therefore aimed to establish an accurate identification system for differential diagnosis of mastitis associated Streptococcus spp. and related spec...

Nocardia species are difficult to identify, a consequence of the ever increasing number of species known and their homogeneous genetic characteristics. 16S rRNA analysis has been the gold standard for identifying these organisms, but proteomic techniques such as matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF MS) and housekeeping gene analysis, have also been explored. One...

Reported matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) identification rates of Gram-positive rods (GPR) are low compared to identification rates of Gram-positive cocci. In this study, three sample preparation methods were compared for MALDI-TOF MS identification of 190 well-characterized GPR strains: direct transfer, direct transfer-formic acid prep...

Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) for the identification of bacteria and fungi was recently introduced in microbiology laboratories. This technology could greatly improve the clinical management of patients and guidance for chemotherapy. In this study, we used a commercial MALDI Sepsityper extraction method to evaluate the performance of...