Mouse is the predominant experimental model for the study of human disease due, in part, to phylogenetic relationship, ease of breeding, and the availability of molecular tools for genetic manipulation. Advances in genome-editing methodologies, such as CRISPR-Cas9, enable the rapid production of new transgenic mouse strains, necessitating complementary high-throughput and systematic phenotyping technologies. In contrast to traditional protein phenotyping techniques, multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mass spectrometry can be highly multiplexed without forgoing specificity or quantitative precision. Here we present MRM assays for the quantitation of 500 proteins and subsequently determine reference concentration values for plasma proteins across five laboratory mouse strains that are typically used in biomedical research, revealing inter-strain and intra-strain phenotypic differences. These 500 MRM assays will have a broad range of research applications including high-throughput phenotypic validation of novel transgenic mice, identification of candidate biomarkers, and general research applications requiring multiplexed and precise protein quantification.

The use of protein biomarkers as surrogates for clinical endpoints requires extensive multilevel validation including development of robust and sensitive assays for precise measurement of protein concentration. Multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) is a well-established mass-spectrometric method that can be used for reproducible protein-concentration measurements in biological specimens collected via microsampling. The dried blood spot (DBS) microsampling technique can be performed non-invasively without the expertise of a phlebotomist, and can enhance analyte stability which facilitate the application of this technique in retrospective studies while providing lower storage and shipping costs, because cold-chain logistics can be eliminated. Thus, precise, sensitive, and multiplexed methods for measuring protein concentrations in DBSs can be used for de novo biomarker discovery and for biomarker quantification or verification experiments. To achieve this goal, MRM assays were developed for multiplexed concentration measurement of proteins in DBSs.The lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) was found to have a median total coefficient of variation (CV) of 18% for 245 proteins, whereas the median LLOQ was 5 fmol of peptide injected on column, and the median inter-day CV over 4 days for measuring endogenous protein concentration was 8%. The majority (88%) of the assays displayed parallelism, whereas the peptide standards remained stable throughout the assay workflow and after exposure to multiple freeze-thaw cycles. For 190 proteins, the measured protein concentrations remained stable in DBS stored at ambient laboratory temperature for up to 2 months. Finally, the developed assays were used to measure the concentration ranges for 200 proteins in twenty same sex, same race and age matched individuals.

When quantifying endogenous plasma proteins for fundamental and biomedical research - as well as for clinical applications - precise, reproducible, and robust assays are required. Targeted detection of peptides in a bottom-up strategy is the most common and precise mass spectrometry-based quantitation approach when combined with the use of stable isotope-labeled peptides. However, when measuring protein in plasma, the unknown endogenous levels prevent the implementation of the best calibration strategies, since no blank matrix is available. Consequently, several alternative calibration strategies are employed by different laboratories. In this study, these methods were compared to a new approach using two different stable isotope-labeled standard (SIS) peptide isotopologues for each endogenous peptide to be quantified, enabling an external calibration curve as well as the quality control samples to be prepared in pooled human plasma without interference from endogenous peptides. This strategy improves the analytical performance of the assay and enables the accuracy of the assay to be monitored, which can also facilitate method development and validation.

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