Mass Spectrometry Unit
The large-scale mass spectrometric analysis of proteins has gained significant momentum during the last few years thanks to key technical advances in both instrumentation and analysis software. As a result, it is now possible to describe the “Proteome” of cells or tissues (= the collection of all proteins present at a given time) in comparatively great depth.
We see ourselves as a service unit that aims to make protein analysis via mass spectrometry accessible to all departments and groups within the institute, as well as to select external collaborators. We offer expert support both in the strategic planning of experiments involving mass spectrometry and in the preparation of samples to be analyzed at all levels. For this purpose, we have our own laboratory where all sample preparation steps - from cell lysis to sample clean-up to the actual measurement - can be carried out.
Since early 2020, we have been equipped with a state-of-the-art Bruker timsTOF Pro 2 system. An older Q Exactive HF Orbitrap mass spectrometer from Thermo currently serves as a backup system. Both mass spectrometers are directly coupled with nano-HPLC systems. This combination of instruments enables reproducible chromatographic separation of even very complex peptide mixturescontaining tens of thousands of peptide species, followed by highly sensitive and reliable identification and characterization of the contained peptides by the mass spectrometer.
Because the composition of the proteome is not static and is modulated by changes in the cellular environment (e.g. by the presence or absence of cytokines, growth factors, drugs, nutrients etc), it is in many instances of equal interest not only to identify proteins but also to address the question of quantitative changes of the identified proteins. We therefore offer the possibility to perform relative quantitation experiments mostly using label-free methods, but also by the introduction of isobaric tags (TMT) and other chemical labels, or by using the SILAC-technique (SILAC = Stable Isotope Labelling with Amino Acids in Culture).
Label-free measurements are preferably performed in DIA mode (DIA = Data Independent Acquisition), which offers a high degree of data completeness. For the subsequent analysis of the recorded spectra, we use DIA-NN and Spectronaut, as well as FragPipe / MSFragger, which have largely replaced MaxQuant and its well-established Andromeda search engine. Index-based search algorithms have not only accelerated the search process but also offer new possibilities for identifying known and novel post-translational modifications.
Finally, we strive not only to deliver long and often hard-to-navigate results lists but also to facilitate access to the acquired data, its contextualization, and further interpretation with regard to the underlying biological questions—through statistical and other bioinformatics analyses (e.g., using Perseus, R, Cytoscape, and various other, often web-based tools).
Publications
2026
Nakayama M, Nakayama A, van Lessen M, Yamamoto H, Hoffmann S, Drexler HCA, Itoh N, Hirose T, Breier G, Vestweber D, Cooper JA, Ohno S, Kaibuchi K, Adams RH. Author Correction: Spatial regulation of VEGF receptor endocytosis in angiogenesis. Nat Cell Biol. 2026 Jun 26. doi: 10.1038/s41556-026-02019-2. Online ahead of print. PMID: 42362940. No abstract available.
Nolte T, Halabian R, Israel S, Suzuki Y, Drexler HCA, Makalowski W, Fuellen G, Boiani M. Variable partition of non-homogeneous ooplasm sets the stage for divergent potency of 2-cell stage blastomeres. Mol Hum Reprod. 2026 Jan 7;32(1):gaag004. doi: 10.1093/molehr/gaag004. PMID: 41639003. Free PMC article.
Chen F, Bruder JM, Govindasamy N, Wu J, Chen R, Prit D, Drexler HCA, Leidel SA, Schöler HR, Bedzhov I. Developmental regulation of Erk signaling by mitotic kinases. Sci Adv. 2026 Jan 9;12(2):eadq7469. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adq7469. Epub 2026 Jan 9. PMID: 41512051. Free PMC article.
2025
Peters F, Höfs W, Lee H, Brodesser S, Kruse K, Drexler HCA, Hu J, Raker VK, Lukas D, von Stebut E, Krönke M, Niessen CM, Wickström SA. Sphingolipid metabolism orchestrates establishment of the hair follicle stem cell compartment. J Cell Biol. 2025 Apr 7;224(4):e202403083. doi: 10.1083/jcb.202403083. Epub 2025 Jan 29. PMID: 39879198.
2024
Böttcher B, Kienast SD, Leufken J, Eggers C, Sharma P, Leufken CM, Morgner B, Drexler HCA, Schulz D, Allert S, Jacobsen ID, Vylkova S, Leidel SA, Brunke S. A highly conserved tRNA modification contributes to C. albicans filamentation and virulence. Microbiol Spectr. 2024 May 2;12(5):e0525522. doi: 10.1128/spectrum.04255-22. Epub 2024 Apr 8. PMID: 38587411.
2023
Israel S, Seyfarth J, Nolte T, Drexler HCA, Fuellen G, Boiani M. Intracellular fraction of zona pellucida protein 3 is required for the oocyte-to-embryo transition in mice. Mol Hum Reprod. 2023 Nov 1;29(11):gaad038. doi: 10.1093/molehr/gaad038.
Günl F, Krischuns T, Schreiber JA, Henschel L, Wahrenburg M, Drexler HCA, Leidel SA, Cojocaru V, Seebohm G, Mellmann A, Schwemmle M, Ludwig S, Brunotte L. The ubiquitination landscape of the influenza A virus polymerase. Nat Commun. 2023 Feb 11;14(1):787. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-36389-0. PMID: 36774438.
Rizzato M, Mao F, Chardon F, Lai KY, Villalonga-Planells R, Drexler HCA, Pesenti ME, Fiskin M, Roos N, King KM, Li S, Gamez ER, Greune L, Dersch P, Simon C, Masson M, Van Doorslaer K, Campos SK, Schelhaas M. Master mitotic kinases regulate viral genome delivery during papillomavirus cell entry. Nat Commun. 2023 Jan 23;14(1):355. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-35874-w.
2022
Duethorn B, Groll F, Rieger B, Drexler HCA, Brinkmann H, Kremer L, Stehling M, Borowski MT, Mildner K, Zeuschner D, Zernicka-Goetz M, Stemmler MP, Busch KB, Vaquerizas JM, Bedzhov I. Lima1 mediates the pluripotency control of membrane dynamics and cellular metabolism. Nat Commun. 2022 Feb 1;13(1):610. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-28139-5.
Han D, Wu G, Chen R, Drexler HCA, MacCarthy CM, Kim KP, Adachi K, Gerovska D, Mavrommatis L, Bedzhov I, Araúzo-Bravo MJ, Schöler HR. A balanced Oct4 interactome is crucial for maintaining pluripotency. Sci Adv. 2022 Feb 18;8(7):eabe4375. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abe4375. Epub 2022 Feb 16.
2021
Taher L, Israel S, Drexler HCA, Makalowski W, Suzuki Y, Fuellen G, Boiani M. The proteome, not the transcriptome, predicts that oocyte superovulation affects embryonic phenotypes in mice. Sci Rep. 2021 Dec 9;11:23731. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-03054-9.
Di Persio S, Tekath T, Siebert-Kuss LM, Cremers J-F, Wistuba J, Li X, Meyer zu Hörste G, Drexler HCA, Wyrwoll MJ, Tüttelmann F, Dugas M, Kliesch S, Schlatt S, Laurentino S, Neuhaus N. Single-cell RNA-seq unravels alterations of the human spermatogonial stem cell compartment in patients with impaired spermatogenesis. Cell Reports Medicine. 2021;2(9).
Mall EM, Lecanda A, Drexler HCA, Raz E, Schöler HR, Schlatt S. Heading towards a dead end: The role of DND1 in germ line differentiation of human iPSCs. PLoS One. 2021;16:e0258427.
Liu Y, Chen Q, Han D, Schoeler H, Fabian J, Stehling M, Jeong H-W, Drexler HCA, Adams RH. Dopamine signaling regulates hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell function. Blood. 2021. doi: 10.1182/blood.2020010419.
Israel S, Drexler HCA, Fuellen G, Boiani M. The COP9 signalosome subunit 3 is necessary for early embryo survival by way of a stable protein deposit in mouse oocytes. Mol Hum Reprod. 2021. doi: 10.1093/molehr/gaab048.
Lai KY, Rizzato M, Aydin I, Villalonga-Planells R, Drexler HCA, Schelhaas M. A Ran-binding protein facilitates nuclear import of human papillomavirus type 16. PLoS Pathog. 2021;17:e1009580.
2020
Schreiber A, Boff L, Anhlan D, Krischuns T, Brunotte L, Schuberth C, Wedlich-Söldner R, Drexler H, Ludwig S. Dissecting the mechanism of signaling-triggered nuclear export of newly synthesized influenza virus ribonucleoprotein complexes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2020;117:16557–16566.
Lepa C, Hoppe S, Stöber A, Skryabin BV, Sievers LK, Heitplatz B, Ciarimboli G, Neugebauer U, Lindenmeyer MT, Cohen CD, Drexler HCA, Boor P, Weide T, Pavenstädt H, George B. TrkC is essential for nephron function and trans-activates Igf1R signaling. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2021 Feb;32(2):357–374. doi: 10.1681/ASN.2020040424. Epub 2020 Dec 30. PMID: 33380522.
Margraf A, Germena G, Drexler HCA, Rossaint J, Ludwig N, Prystaj B, Mersmann S, Thomas K, Block H, Gottschlich W, Liu C, Krenn PW, Haller H, Heitplatz B, Meyer Zu Brickwedde M, Moser M, Vestweber D, Zarbock A. The integrin linked kinase is required for chemokine-triggered high affinity conformation of neutrophil β2-integrin LFA1. Blood. 2020 Jul 30. doi: 10.1182/blood.2020004948. Online ahead of print. PMID: 32730588.
2019
Luxán G, Stewen J, Díaz N, Kato K, Maney SK, Pitulescu ME, Nagelmann N, Drexler HCA, Zeuschner D, Faber C, Schillers H, Hermann S, Wiseman J, Vaquerizas JM, Pitulescu M, Adams RH. Endothelial EphB4 maintains vascular integrity and transport function in adult heart. eLife. 2019 Nov 29;8:e45863. doi: 10.7554/eLife.45863. PMID: 31782728.
Israel S, Casser E, Drexler HCA, Fuellen G, Boiani M. A framework for TRIM21-mediated protein depletion in early mouse embryos: recapitulation of Tead4 null phenotype over three days. BMC Genomics. 2019 Oct 21;20(1):755. doi: 10.1186/s12864-019-6106-2.
Israel S, Ernst M, Psathaki OE, Drexler HCA, Casser E, Suzuki Y, Makalowski W, Boiani M, Fuellen G, Taher L. An integrated genome-wide multi-omics analysis of gene expression dynamics in the preimplantation mouse embryo. Sci Rep. 2019 Sep 16;9(1):13356. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-49817-3.
Drexler HCA, Vockel M, Polaschegg C, Frye M, Peters K, Vestweber D. Vascular Endothelial Receptor Tyrosine Phosphatase: Identification of Novel Substrates Related to Junctions and a Ternary Complex with EPHB4 and TIE2. Mol Cell Proteomics. 2019 Oct;18(10):2058–2077. doi: 10.1074/mcp.RA119.001716. Epub 2019 Aug 19.
Holthenrich A, Drexler HCA, Chehab T, Naß J, Gerke V. Proximity proteomics of endothelial Weibel-Palade bodies identifies novel regulator of von Willebrand factor secretion. Blood. 2019 Sep 19;134(12):979–982. doi: 10.1182/blood.2019000786. Epub 2019 Jul 1.
Braun LJ, Zinnhardt M, Vockel M, Drexler HCA, Peters K, Vestweber D. VE-PTP inhibition stabilizes endothelial junctions by activating FGD5. EMBO Rep. 2019. doi: 10.15252/embr.201847046.
Marrone L, Drexler HCA, Wang J, Tripathi P, Distler T, Heisterkamp P, Anderson EN, Kour S, Moraiti A, Maharana S, Bhatnagar R, Belgard TG, Tripathy V, Kalmbach N, Hosseinzadeh Z, Crippa V, Abo-Rady M, Wegner F, Poletti A, Troost D, Aronica E, Busskamp V, Weis J, Pandey UB, Hyman AA, Alberti S, Goswami A, Sterneckert J. FUS pathology in ALS is linked to alterations in multiple ALS-associated proteins and rescued by drugs stimulating autophagy. Acta Neuropathol. 2019;138(1):67–84. doi: 10.1007/s00401-019-01998-x.
Reinhardt L, Kordes S, Reinhardt P, Glatza M, Baumann M, Drexler HCA, Menninger S, Zischinsky G, Eickhoff J, Fröb C, Bhattarai P, Arulmozhivarman G, Marrone L, Janosch A, Adachi K, Stehling M, Anderson EN, Abo-Rady M, Bickle M, Pandey UB, Reimer MM, Kizil C, Schöler HR, Nussbaumer P, Klebl B, Sterneckert JL. Dual inhibition of GSK3β and CDK5 protects the cytoskeleton of neurons from neuroinflammatory-mediated degeneration in vitro and in vivo. Stem Cell Reports. 2019;12:502–517.
2018
Mallik M, Catinozzi M, Hug CB, Zhang L, Wagner M, Bussmann J, Bittern J, Mersmann S, Klämbt C, Drexler HCA, Huynen MA, Vaquerizas JM, Storkebaum E. Xrp1 genetically interacts with the ALS-associated FUS orthologue caz and mediates its toxicity. J Cell Biol. 2018;217:3947–3964.
Böser A, Drexler HCA, Bartscherer K. Tissue Extracts for Quantitative Mass Spectrometry of Planarian Proteins Using SILAC. Methods Mol Biol. 2018;1774:539–553.
Sarin LP, Kienast SD, Leufken J, Ross RL, Dziergowska A, Debiec K, Sochacka E, Limbach PA, Fufezan C, Drexler HCA, Leidel SA. Nano LC-MS using capillary columns enables accurate quantification of modified ribonucleosides at low femtomol levels. RNA. 2018;24:1403–1417.
Höing S, Yeh T-Y, Baumann M, Martinez NE, Habenberger P, Kremer L, Drexler HCA, Küchler P, Reinhardt P, Choidas A, Zischinsky M-L, Zischinsky G, Nandini S, Ledray AP, Ketcham SA, Reinhardt L, Abo-Rady M, Glatza M, King SJ, Nussbaumer P, Ziegler S, Klebl B, Schroer TA, Schöler HR, Waldmann H, Sterneckert J. Dynarrestin, a novel inhibitor of cytoplasmic dynein. Cell Chem Biol. 2018;25(4):357–369.e6. doi: 10.1016/j.chembiol.2017.12.014.
2016
Wang B, Pfeiffer MJ, Drexler HCA, Fuellen G, Boiani M. Proteomic analysis of mouse oocytes identifies PRMT7 as reprogramming factor that replaces SOX2 in the induction of pluripotent stem cells. J Proteome Res. 2016 May 26. doi: 10.1021/acs.jproteome.5b01083.
2014
Alings F, Sarin LP, Fufezan C, Drexler HCA, Leidel SA. An evolutionary approach uncovers a diverse response of tRNA 2-thiolation to elevated temperatures in yeast. RNA. 2015 Feb;21(2):202–212. doi: 10.1261/rna.048199.114. Epub 2014 Dec 12.
Pfeiffer MJ, Taher L, Drexler HCA, Suzuki Y, Makałowski W, Schwarzer C, Wang B, Fuellen G, Boiani M. Differences in embryo quality are associated with differences in oocyte composition: A proteomic study in inbred mice. Proteomics. 2014 Nov 4. doi: 10.1002/pmic.201400334.
Gaumann AK, Drexler HCA, Lang SA, Stoeltzing O, Diermeier-Daucher S, Buchdunger E, Wood J, Bold G, Breier G. The inhibition of tyrosine kinase receptor signalling in leiomyosarcoma cells using the small molecule kinase inhibitor PTK787/ZK222584 (Vatalanib®). Int J Oncol. 2014 Dec;45(6):2267–2277. doi: 10.3892/ijo.2014.2683. Epub 2014 Sep 29.
Rocha SF, Schiller M, Jing D, Li H, Butz S, Vestweber D, Biljes D, Drexler HCA, Nieminen-Kelha M, Vajkoczy P, Adams S, Benedito R, Adams RH. Esm1 modulates endothelial tip cell behavior and vascular permeability by enhancing VEGF bioavailability. Circ Res. 2014 Aug 29;115(6):581–590. doi: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.115.304718. Epub 2014 Jul 23.
Schwarzer C, Siatkowski M, Pfeiffer MJ, Baeumer N, Drexler HCA, Wang B, Fuellen G, Boiani M. Maternal age effect on mouse oocytes: new biological insight from proteomic analysis. Reproduction. 2014;148:55–72.
Shintani Y, Drexler HCA, Kioka H, Terracciano CMN, Coppen SR, Imamura H, Akao M, Nakai J, Wheeler AP, Higo S, Nakayama H, Takashima S, Yashiro K, Suzuki K. Toll-like receptor 9 protects non-immune cells from stress by modulating mitochondrial ATP synthesis through the inhibition of SERCA2. EMBO Rep. 2014 Apr;15(4):438–445. doi: 10.1002/embr.201337945. Epub 2014 Mar 7.
2013
Boeser A, Drexler HCA, Reuter H, Schmitz H, Wu G, Schöler HR, Gentile L, Bartscherer K. SILAC proteomics of planarians identifies Ncoa5 as a conserved component of pluripotent stem cells. Cell Reports. 2013;5:1142–1155.
Esch D, Vahokoski J, Groves MR, Pogenberg V, Cojocaru V, Vom Bruch H, Han D, Drexler HCA, Araúzo-Bravo MJ, Ng CKL, Jauch R, Wilmanns M, Schöler HR. A unique Oct4 interface is crucial for reprogramming to pluripotency. Nat Cell Biol. 2013;15:295–301.
Nakayama M, Nakayama A, van Lessen M, Yamamoto H, Hoffmann S, Drexler HCA, Itoh N, Hirose T, Breier G, Vestweber D, Cooper JA, Ohno S, Kaibuchi K, Adams RH. Spatial regulation of VEGF receptor endocytosis in angiogenesis. Nat Cell Biol. 2013;15:249–260.
2011
Drexler HCA, Ruhs A, Konzer A, Mendler L, Bruckskotten M, Looso M, Günther S, Boettger T, Krüger M, Braun T. On marathons and sprints: an integrated quantitative proteomics and transcriptomics analysis of differences between slow and fast muscle fibers. Mol Cell Proteomics. Published 2011 Dec 30. doi: 10.1074/mcp.M111.010801.
Pfeiffer MJ, Siatkowski M, Paudel Y, Balbach ST, Baeumer N, Crosetto N, Drexler HCA, Fuellen G, Boiani M. Proteomic analysis of mouse oocytes reveals 28 candidate factors of the "reprogrammome". J Proteome Res. 2011 May 6;10(5):2140–2153. Epub 2011 Mar 29.