LC-MS Analysis of Endogenous Neuropeptides from Tissues of Central Nervous System: An Overview

In recent years, various methods and technological advances demonstrated that neurochemical measurements have contributed to significant improvements in our understanding of the relationship between chemistry in the central nervous system (CNS) and the organism. Techniques based on Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS) are potent approaches for separating and quantifying endogenous neuropeptides in CNS. The separation ability and reliability of LC with sensitivity and selectivity of MS have become a valuable combination for peptide analysis either qualitatively or quantitively. Thus, new peptides have been identified using this technique. When applied to disease models, pathophysiological mechanisms can be identified and used as drug targets or biomarkers. Due to the low concentrations of neuropeptides in the biological samples, they restrict developing analysis methods and the understanding of their biological function. This book chapter focuses on novel developments of LC-MS/MS for endogenous neuropeptides. It has also emphasized the applications that cite preparation techniques used for brain tissue analysis, published in recent years.

Keywords: LC-MS/MS, Endogenous neuropeptide, Sample preparation, Brain tissues, Microdialysis, Central nervous system, Neuropeptide families, Mass spectrometry, Mass analyzers, Ionization sources, Fragmentation techniques, Neuropeptide analysis.