Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry for rapid identification of fungi
WANG Huan
QU Fen
Abstract：Fungi are widely distributed in nature, and about 300 species of fungi are pathogenic to humans with different growth characteristics, clinical features and drug resistance. As fungi are slowly growing microorganisms, the culture and identification of fungi by conventional methods are time-consuming. In addition, the increasing diversity of fungal pathogens makes the identification more difficult. All these restrict the early diagnosis and targeted therapies. Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) is an emerging diagnostic technique in recent years, which can identify viruses, bacteria, mycobacteria and so on through direct detection of biomarkers (proteins). It is a simple and fast diagnostic method with high accuracy and low cost. This review focuses on the identification of fungi by MALDI-TOF MS. Studies have shown that correct identification by MALDI-TOF MS is observed in more than 94% of yeast-like fungi, and 89% of filamentous fungi. Therefore, MALDI-TOF MS proves to meet the demand for the identification of fungi in clinical laboratory.
Keywords：spectrometrymassmatrix-assisted laser desorption-ionizationfungiinfection
Publication Date：2016-01-01
Online Publishing Date：2025-08-15(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：4( 129-132 )