Technology development trend of electrospray ionization mass spectrometry for single-cell proteomics

Research on single-cell proteomics is required to understand precisely the growth and development of organisms and the onset and progression of diseases. However, research on single-cell proteomics is still in its infancy due in part to the wide variety, low abundance and small amounts of proteins in single cells. Single-cell proteomics based on mass spectrometry (MS) has evolved rapidly over the last two decades due to features such as minimal sample requirements, high sensitivity, rich structural information and the need not to use antibodies for labeling purposes. Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) offers the highest protein coverage for single-cell proteomics. However, due to the availability of various pretreatment methods, separation techniques and MS instrumentation, the sample throughput and coverage of single-cell proteomic technologies can vary greatly. In attempting to highlight the recent progress made in the life sciences field, pertinent publications have been classified according to the different methods used for the separation of single-cell protein samples. The performance of the different methods in terms of detection coverage and throughput are introduced, and the technologies affording major breakthroughs and advances are highlighted. The applications and development prospects for single-cell proteomics based on ESI-MS are elaborated.