Basic Principles of Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS), invented in the late 1980s (1, 2), serves as a technique for analyzing peptides and proteins in relatively complex samples. It has even been used for the direct analysis of tissue specimens (3). The importance of MALDI-TOF MS has been recognized by a share of the 2002 Nobel Prize in Chemistry to K. Tanaka for its invention.
