Mass spectrometry-based proteomics for systems biology

Mass spectrometry (MS)-based proteomics has significantly contributed to the development of systems biology, a new paradigm for the life sciences in which biological processes are addressed in terms of dynamic networks of interacting molecules. Because of its advanced analytical capabilities, MS-based proteomics has been used extensively to identify the components of biological systems, and it is the method of choice to consistently quantify the effects of network perturbation in time and space. Herein, we review recent contributions of MS to systems biology and discuss several examples that illustrate the importance of mass spectrometry to elucidate the components and interactions of molecular networks.