Concise review on the combined use of immunocapture, mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography for clinical applications

Immunocapture is now a well-established method for sample preparation prior to quantitation of peptides and proteins in complex matrices. This short review will give an overview of some clinical applications of immunocapture methods, as well as protocols with and without enzymatic digestion in a clinical context. The advantages and limitations of both approaches are discussed in detail. Challenges related to the choice of mass spectrometer are also discussed. Top-down, middle-down, and bottom-up approaches are discussed. Even though immunocapture has its limitations, its main advantage is that it provides an additional dimension of separation and/or isolation when working with peptides and proteins. Overall, this short review demonstrates the potential of such techniques in the field of proteomics-based clinical medicine and paves the way for better personalized medicine.