protein label-free quantification

Label-free quantification may be based on precursor signal intensity or on spectral counting. The computational framework of label free approach includes detecting peptides, matching the corresponding peptides across multiple LC-MS data, selecting discriminatory peptides. The first method is useful when applied to high precision mass spectra, such as those obtained using the new generation of time-of-flight (ToF), fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (FTICR), or Orbitrap mass analyzers. The high-resolution power facilitates the extraction of peptide signals on the MS1 level and thus uncouples the quantification from the identification process. In contrast, spectral counting simply counts the number of spectra identified for a given peptide in different biological samples and then integrates the results for all measured peptides of the protein(s) that are quantified.