Precise and robust automated proteomics sample prep with PreON and TMTpro-18 plex

Key Takeaways
• True walk-away automation for label-free and chemical labeling workflows
• Standardized workflow for TMT-labeled quantitative proteomics
• Remarkable reproducibility and minimum sample-to-sample variability
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Breast cancer has surpassed lung cancer, and it is now the most commonly diagnosed cancer globally.¹ Its unique, multi-faceted, and chameleonic characteristics make it an eternal challenge for modern precision diagnostics and personalized oncology. In proteomics cancer research, chemical labeling is a powerful tool for providing quantitative, multiplexed, and functional information about the proteome to advance drug and biomarker discovery and early disease diagnosis research. Tandem mass tags (TMT) enable efficient quantitation of up to 18 samples simultaneously, which is crucial for identifying proteins across different biological samples using mass spectrometry.

Automatable platforms compatible with chemical labeling bring further standardization, reproducibility, and hands-on time savings to proteomics sample preparation for LC-MS-based clinical studies. The PreON® automation platform, combined with the iST-NHS technology, provides a standardized and highly reliable workflow for TMT-labeled quantitative proteomics.

The TMTproTM-18 plex upgrade set allows PreON to process 18 labeled samples in parallel, as shown in Figure 1. Furthermore, the manual and fully automated  sample preparation using the iST-NHS kit has been compared to evaluate breast cancer cell lines treated with DMSO (control, TMT channels 1 and 2) and four different compounds at two concentrations (TMT channels 3-18). Automated sample preparation with PreON brings confidence and precision to your drug and biomarker discovery research by offering remarkable reproducibility and minimum sample-to-sample variability.

Spend less time preparing your samples while achieving better results!

Figure 1. Comparison of manual and fully automated (PreON) TMT-labeled proteomics sample preparation. For both approaches, breast cancer cell line samples were prepared using an iST-NHS kit and labeled with TMTpro-18 plex with a labeling efficiency of >99%. For this experiment, the breast cancer cell line was treated with DMSO (control, TMT channels 1 and 2) and four different compounds at two concentrations (TMT channels 3-18).


Acknowledgments:
Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Inc. Tomas Rejtar for data treatment and plot creation; Amanda Hachey for the manual sample preparation; Roxana Garcia Caro for the automated PreON sample preparation; and Jennifer Cobb for high-level collaboration support.


1. Sung H., et al. Global cancer statistics 2020: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries. CA A Cancer J Clin. 71, 209–249 (2021).