Evaluation of the variation in in-gel digestion. (A) SILAC ratios of proteins with different numbers of replicates for in-gel digestion. Protein digests were analyzed by LC-MS/MS and quantified. The sorted protein ratios (heavy/light) were plotted for each experiment. Digestions were performed one, three, or six times. For each number of replicates (N), three independent experiments were performed, which are represented by the three curves in each panel. (B) Cumulative probability curves for protein quantitation after in-gel digestion. Quantified proteins from each replicate group (N=1, 3 and 6) were used to plot the curves. For the control sample, a 1:1 mixture of heavy and light lysates was used.