Patent attributes
Methods are provided for determining the expression level of target proteins in a subject. A plurality of respective peptide transitions are generated from a plurality of proteins obtained from a biological sample from the subject, wherein the plurality of proteins comprises both target and normalizing proteins. A mass spectroscopy (MS) signal intensity is measured from the plurality of respective peptide transitions and a plurality of corresponding stable isotope-labeled internal standard (SIS) peptide transitions. For each of the plurality of proteins, a response ratio is calculated between the MS signal intensity of the respective peptide transition and the corresponding SIS peptide transition. The response ratio for each target protein is normalized by a sample-dependent normalization factor calculated from the response ratio for each normalizing protein, wherein the normalized response ratios provide a determination of the expression level of the target proteins.