Gas-phase purification enables accurate, large-scale, multiplexed proteome quantification with isobaric tagging

We describe a mass spectrometry method, QuantMode, which improves the accuracy of isobaric tag–based quantification by alleviating the pervasive problem of precursor interference—co-isolation of impurities—through gas-phase purification. QuantMode analysis of a yeast sample ‘contaminated’ with interfering human peptides showed substantially improved quantitative accuracy compared to a standard scan, with a small loss of spectral identifications. This technique will allow large-scale, multiplexed quantitative proteomics analyses using isobaric tagging.