Review Proteomics advancements in fetomaternal medicine Athanasios K. Anagnostopoulos, George Th. Tsangaris ⁎ Proteomics Research Unit, Center of Basic Research II, Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens, Athens, Greece abstract article info Available online 23 October 2012 Keywords: Proteomics Mass spectrometry Human reproduction Chromosomal abnormalities Pregnancy complications Amniotic fluid Cervical vaginal fluid Pre-eclampsia Preterm labor Intra-amniotic infections The study of interactions between genes and their environment, thus of molecules that form the “functional genome”, has been greatly enhanced throughout the course of post-genomic era by the expansion of the omic technologies. Proteomic technologies and mass spectrometry in particular, form a well-armored strategy towards high-throughput simultaneous analysis of thousands of proteins and protein-related molecules. Pro- teomics as in the past, are still currently offering novel perspectives in the understanding over the patho- physiology of malicious conditions as well as in the development of molecular-targeted therapeutics against them. This review examines the offerings of proteomics research over the unique physiological phe- nomenon of pregnancy and its related complications, which affect both maternal and perinatal health. © 2012 The Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Contents Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 488 Proteomics methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 488 Separation methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 488 Gel-based proteomics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 488 Shotgun proteomics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 488 Mass spectrometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 488 Ionization methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 488 Mass analyzers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 489 Quadrupole mass filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 489 Ion trap mass analyzers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 489 Time-of-flight mass analyzers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 489 Ion cyclotron resonance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 489 Tandem mass spectrometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 489 Quadrupole time-of-flight (Q-TOF) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 490 Ion trap and orbitrap instruments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 490 Detection and recording of sample ions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 490 Bioinformatics analyses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 490 Proteomic analysis of pregnancy-related tissues and fluids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 490 Amniotic fluid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 490 Chorionic villi samples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 491 Cervical vaginal fluid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 491 Follicular fluid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 492 Maternal blood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 492 Clinical Biochemistry 46 (2013) 487–496 ⁎ Corresponding author at: Proteomics Research Unit, Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens, 4 Soranou Ephessiou, 115 27 Athens, Greece. Fax: +30 210 6597545. E-mail address: gthtsangaris@bioacademy.gr (G.T. Tsangaris). 0009-9120/$ – see front matter © 2012 The Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.clinbiochem.2012.10.011 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Clinical Biochemistry journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/clinbiochem