[Research progress in SELDI-TOF MS and its clinical applications].

Proteinchip profiling is a powerful and innovative proteomic technology for biomarker discovery and diagnostic/prognostic assay development. Based on surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (SELDI-TOF MS), Ciphergen's proteinchip system offers a single, unified, high-throughput platform for a multitude of proteomic research applications. Proteins are the major functional components of the cell, the study of proteomics provides mankind with a better understanding of disease and life. The remarkable findings in disease biomarkers have shed light to the early diagnosis, monitoring and predicting prognosis of various diseases, especially for cancer. In this article, the development and technology of SELDI-TOF MS are introduced. Some research progress and encouraging research results in oncoproteomics, infectious diseases, neurological diseases and diabetes mellitus using SELDI-TOF MS are also reviewed. The paper is closed by the appraisals on its pros and cons, as well as the future prospective is also expounded.