The journal Molecular & Cellular Proteomics (MCP), in collaboration with the Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium (CPTAC) of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, announce new guidelines and requirements for papers describing the development and application of targeted mass spectrometry measurements of peptides, modified peptides and proteins (Mol Cell Proteomics 2017; PMID: 28183812). NCI’s participation is part of NIH’s overall effort to address the reproducibility crisis in science.
Adoption of targeted mass spectrometry (MS) approaches such as multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) as well as other MS-based targeted analysis approaches, is well underway in the biomedical research community. This is because targeted proteomic assays can be readily multiplexed and suffer fewer undetectable interferences than are commonly observed using conventional protein detection systems such as ELISA and other strictly antibody-based based methods. Unfortunately, up until now there has been little consensus on what data and information should be required to be provided in publications to clearly demonstrate the quality and reliability of the assays developed and applied. The goal of the guidelines is to ensure that reliable and reproducible high quality data and results are being generated labs worldwide and entering the literature.
The guidelines and requirements for authors were developed as a direct outcome of a meeting sponsored by the NCI-CPTAC program and subsequent publication describing a tiered, fit-for-purpose approach to targeted assay development in mass spectrometry-based proteomics (Mol Cell Proteomics 2014; PMID: 24443746).
In addition, CPTAC is committed to applying the highest analytical and computational standards, while providing resources and reagents to the public that enable cancer researchers to effectively and reproducibly use proteomic and proteogenomic approaches. The CPTAC Assay Portal serves as a centralized public repository of "fit-for-purpose," multiplexed quantitative mass spectrometry-based proteomic targeted assays. The goal of the portal is to widely disseminate highly characterized proteomic assays to the global research community, with access to SOPs, reagents, and assay characterization/validation data in support of the National Institutes of Health’s Rigor and Reproducibility Principles and Guidelines.
For MCP new guidelines and requirements for papers describing the development and application of targeted mass spectrometry measurements, click here.