MOWSE is a method for identification of protein

Protein

Proteins are biochemical compounds consisting of one or more polypeptides typically folded into a globular or fibrous form, facilitating a biological function. A polypeptide is a single linear polymer chain of amino acids bonded together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of...

s from the molecular weight of peptide

Peptide

Peptides are short polymers of amino acid monomers linked by peptide bonds. They are distinguished from proteins on the basis of size, typically containing less than 50 monomer units. The shortest peptides are dipeptides, consisting of two amino acids joined by a single peptide bond...

s created by proteolytic digestion

Proteolysis

Proteolysis is the directed degradation of proteins by cellular enzymes called proteases or by intramolecular digestion.-Purposes:Proteolysis is used by the cell for several purposes...

 and measured with mass spectrometry

Mass spectrometry

Mass spectrometry is an analytical technique that measures the mass-to-charge ratio of charged particles.It is used for determining masses of particles, for determining the elemental composition of a sample or molecule, and for elucidating the chemical structures of molecules, such as peptides and...

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The MOWSE algorithm was developed by Darryl Pappin and David Perkins at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund, and licensed from Cancer Research Technology. The probability-based MOWSE score formed the basis of development of Mascot

Mascot (software)

Mascot is a software search engine that uses mass spectrometry data to identify proteins from primary sequence databases.Many research facilities utilize Mascot, either by private or public server for database searching....

, a proprietary software for protein identification from mass spectrometry data. It is documented here