Systematical evaluation of the effects of sample collection procedures on low-molecular-weight serum/plasma proteome profiling

Blood is an ideal source for biomarker discovery. However, little has been done to address the effects of sampling, handling and storage procedures on serum/plasma proteomes. We used magnetic bead-based MALDI-TOF MS to systematically evaluate the influence of each procedure on low-molecular-weight serum/plasma proteome profiling on the basis of the whole spectra. We found that sampling procedures, including the selection of blood collection tubes and anticoagulants, variations in clotting time or time lag before centrifugation, and hemolysis, displayed significant effects on the proteomes. Moreover, serum and plasma were mutually incompatible for proteome comparison. By contrast, overnight fasting, handling procedures, including centrifugation speeds (1500 × g vs. 3000 × g) or time (15 min vs. 30 min), and storage conditions, such as at 4°C or 25°C for up to 24 h or at -80°C for up to 3 months, and repeated freeze/thaw of up to ten cycles, had relatively minor effects on the proteomes based upon our analysis of about 100 peaks. We concluded that low-molecular-weight serum/plasma proteomes were diversely affected by sampling, handling and storage with most change from variations of sampling procedures. We therefore suggest the necessity of standardizing sampling procedure for proteome comparison and biomarker discovery.