Bio-Rad EXQuest Spot Cutter - Manual (Page 15)

PDQuest User Guide
1-2
Mass Spec Analysis
PDQuest is part of Bio-Rad’s ProteomeWorks protein analysis package, and controls
Bio-Rad’s ProteomeWorks Spot Cutter. You can cut spots from gels or membranes
using PDQuest, digest them, and perform advanced protein analysis using
MicroMass’s mass spectrometry instruments and software. Data from MicroMass can
then be imported back into PDQuest to be included in spot annotations.
And More...
Scan files acquired in PDQuest can be analyzed using other Bio-Rad Discovery
Series software applications, such as Quantity One or Diversity Database. Scans can
be converted into TIFF format for easy compatibility with other applications.
1.2 Digital Data and Signal Intensity
The Bio-Rad imaging devices supported by PDQuest are light and/or radiation
detectors that convert signals from biological samples into digital data. PDQuest then
displays the digital data on your computer screen, in the form of gray scale or color
images.
A data object as displayed on the computer is composed of tiny individual screen
pixels. Each pixel has an X and Y coordinate, and a value Z. The X and Y coordinates
are the pixel’s horizontal and vertical positions on the image, and the Z value is the
signal intensity of the pixel.