Surface-Enhanced Laser Desorption/Ionization (SELDI): A New Comer Into Diagnostic Medicine

The completion of the Human Genome Project has marked the official start of the post-genomic era. Due to limitations obstructing DNA and RNA studies, the advent of proteomics, the large-scale analysis of proteins, is considered a crucial consequence and a chief player of post-genomic initiatives. The immediate goal of proteomic studies is understanding proteins including their expression, function, interaction, and structure. The final aim of proteomics is discovering protein biomarkers that can be used in the detection, prognostication, and treatment of diseases. However, the challenge of studying complete sets of proteins in cells, or proteomes, is driving the development of newer technologies. In this review, a discussion of one proteomic biotechnology, Surface-Enhanced Laser Desorption Ionization (SELDI) mass spectrometry, and its clinical applications is offered. This instrument has been successfully utilized in analyzing human samples for the discovery of biomarkers and in disease diagnosis. Recent advancement in proteomics has added, and will continue to add, valuable information to our knowledgebase of the human biological system.