In this study we present a proof-of-concept for targeted relative protein quantitation workflow using chemical labeling in the form of dimethylation, coupled with selected reaction monitoring (Dimethyl-SRM). We first demonstrate close to complete isotope incorporation for all peptides tested. The accuracy, reproducibility, and linear dynamic range of quantitation are further assessed based on known ratios of non-human standard proteins spiked into human cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) as a model complex matrix. Quantitation reproducibility below 20% (CV<20%) was obtained for analyte concentrations present at a dynamic range of 4 orders of magnitude lower than that of the background proteins. An error of less than 15% was observed when measuring the abundance of 45 major human plasma proteins. Dimethyl-SRM was further examined by comparing the relative quantitation of eight proteins in human CSF with the relative quantitation obtained using synthetic heavy peptides coupled to stable isotope dilution-SRM (SID-SRM). Comparison between the two methods reveals that the correlation between dimethyl-SRM and SID-SRM is within 0.3-39% variation, demonstrating the accuracy of relative quantitation using dimethyl-SRM. Dimethyl labeling coupled with SRM provides a fast, convenient and cost-effective alternative for relative quantitation of a large number of candidate proteins/peptides.3