Quantifying phosphorylation dynamics in primary neuronal cultures using LC-MS/MS

Cellular processes require tight and coordinated control of protein abundance, localization, and activity. One of the core mechanisms to achieve specific regulation of proteins is protein phosphorylation. Here we present a workflow to monitor protein abundance and phosphorylation in primary cultured neurons using liquid chromatography-coupled mass spectrometry. Our protocol provides a detailed guide on all steps for detection and label-free-quantification of phosphorylated and unmodified proteins of primary cortical neurons, including primary cell culture, phosphoproteomic sample preparation and data-processing, and evaluation. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Desch et al. (2021).