Reference spectra of extracellular matrix proteins: Collagen I (COL1A1) from rat tail in positive and negative polarity

Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) is increasingly applied in life sciences to analyze composition and structure of extracellular matrices (ECMs). The fragmentation of the ECM components during the analysis results in a large number of individual signals in the mass spectra. Due to the chemical similarity of the biomolecular building blocks, identical fragments from different molecules can contribute to the same signal. Reliable reference spectra and multivariate methods are required in order to decipher the information hidden in ToF-SIMS spectra of complex ECM samples. Here, we provide reference spectra for collagen I, an important structural protein found in the ECM of mammals, including humans. These spectra were measured with positive and negative polarity using a 30 kV Bi3++ primary ion beam.