Visualization of LC‐MS/MS proteomics data in MaxQuant

TLDR

Shotgun proteomics data can be automatically analyzed by modern software platforms, yielding high‑quality identification and quantification, while advanced visualization tools enable easy navigation of large LC‑MS/MS datasets. MaxQuant’s updated version incorporates a map‑navigation component that guides users through mass and retention‑time dependent signals, lets them monitor peptide features across LC‑MS runs with advanced 3D graphics, and offers an expert annotation system to interpret MS/MS spectra for peptide identification.

Abstract

Modern software platforms enable the analysis of shotgun proteomics data in an automated fashion resulting in high quality identification and quantification results. Additional understanding of the underlying data can be gained with the help of advanced visualization tools that allow for easy navigation through large LC‐MS/MS datasets potentially consisting of terabytes of raw data. The updated MaxQuant version has a map navigation component that steers the users through mass and retention time‐dependent mass spectrometric signals. It can be used to monitor a peptide feature used in label‐free quantification over many LC‐MS runs and visualize it with advanced 3D graphic models. An expert annotation system aids the interpretation of the MS/MS spectra used for the identification of these peptide features.