Biospean

Biospean processes peptide and protein profiles from MALDI intact cell/spore mass spectrometry to detect peaks, perform spectral similarity searches against a custom spectral database, and compute similarity scores for sample identification.

Key Features:

• Local Scanning Peak Detection: Identifies peaks by analyzing intensity values around individual m/z positions using a local scanning approach.
• Noise Management (Signal-to-Noise Ratio): Applies an adjustable signal-to-noise ratio threshold to filter noise and retain relevant peaks.
• Similarity Search: Compares detected peaks against a custom spectral database to identify samples.
• Scoring System: Calculates a percentage score based on the number of identical peak positions found within an adjustable mass tolerance relative to the total number of detected peaks.
• Bidirectional Comparison: Performs bidirectional spectrum comparisons and averages both score values for reciprocal similarity assessment.
• Result Sorting: Organizes database search outcomes into a table for downstream analysis.

Scientific Applications:

• Proteomics Research: Identification and comparison of peptide/protein profiles in proteomics studies using MALDI mass spectrometry.
• Sample Identification: Identification of samples from MALDI intact cell/spore mass spectra via spectral similarity scoring against a custom database.

Methodology:

Local scanning-based peak detection with an adjustable signal-to-noise ratio threshold, followed by similarity searches against a custom spectral database and computation of percentage scores from identical peak positions within an adjustable mass tolerance; spectra can be compared bidirectionally with averaged scores and results sorted into a table.