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Updated: Feb 10, 2026

Single-Cell Proteomics Preparation for Mass Spectrometry Analysis Using Freeze-Heat Lysis and an Isobaric Carrier
Published on: December 9, 2022
Proteomic Analysis of Single Mammalian Cells Enabled by Microfluidic Nanodroplet Sample Preparation and
Ying Zhu1, Geremy Clair2, William B Chrisler2
1Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, 99354, USA.
Abstract:
We report on the quantitative proteomic analysis of single mammalian cells. Fluorescence-activated cell sorting was employed to deposit cells into a newly developed nanodroplet sample processing chip, after which samples were analyzed by ultrasensitive nanoLC-MS. An average of circa 670 protein groups were confidently identified from single HeLa cells, which is a far greater level of proteome coverage for single cells than has been previously reported. We demonstrate that the single-cell proteomics platform can be used to differentiate cell types from enzyme-dissociated human lung primary cells and identify specific protein markers for epithelial and mesenchymal cells.
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