Influence of image‐analysis software on quantitation of two‐dimensional gel electrophoresis data

Image analysis of two‐dimensional gels is a crucial step in a proteomic workflow and has a direct impact on obtained qualitative and quantitative data. Since the analysis is a complex process and creates large data amounts, the use of a respective software is inevitable. There are only a few papers published addressing the issue of analysis‐based variance; therefore, our aim was to highlight the discrepancy of received results when different commercially available image‐tools are used for gel analysis especially in terms of comparability of the obtained outcome when the same digital image set is used. A set of six gels (three replicates per group) of real‐life samples was created and examined with two different versions of PD‐Quest (Bio‐Rad) (version 6.1 and its update version 8.0) and with an external image‐tool Delta 2D (Decodon) (version 3.6). Replicate groups were analyzed and compared with each other with regard to volume ratios of a group of significantly changed spots. The study points out significant variations among results depending on the software package used, underlining the importance of a careful investigation of post‐experimental processes to receive comparable and reliable results.