Peak selection from MALDI-TOF mass spectra using ant colony optimization

Due to the large number of peaks in mass spectra of low-molecular-weight enriched sera, a systematic method is needed to select a parsimonious set of peaks to facilitate biomarker identification. We present computational methods for matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight spectral data preprocessing and peak selection. In particular, we propose a novel method that combines ant colony optimization with support vector machines to select a small set of useful peaks.