Stoichiometry-dependent specificity in biotin enrichment: a benchmarking framework for proximity labeling proteomics
Proximity labeling methods (including, BioID, TurboID, ultraID), along with surface proteomics and microdomain mapping, enable proteome-wide identification of spatially proximal proteins via MS-based analysis. These workflows require specific enrichment of biotinylated proteins using affinity purification, yet enrichment specificity can often be compromised by non-specifically bound proteins. As labeling strategies are increasingly applied to complex biological samples with low protein input or low biotin stoichiometry, accurately distinguishing true targets from background becomes a major analytical challenge. Despite its critical impact on data quality and interpretation, the influence of biotinylation level and protein input on enrichment performance remains poorly characterized, limiting the reliability of proximity labeling experiments. To address this, we establish a quantitative benchmarking framework that systematically evaluates biotin enrichment under controlled conditions, including scenarios of low biotin stoichiometry. Using this setup, we show that enrichment specificity strongly depends on biotin stoichiometry: higher levels of biotinylation in samples yield high specificity, whereas low biotinylation increases non-specific background. Reduced protein input further limits recovery of true targets, yet maintains enrichment specificity, highlighting sensitivity constraints of enrichment-based workflows. We apply this framework to biotinylated extracellular vesicle (EV) cargo uptake in recipient cells using ultraID-CD63 labeling. Detection of the most abundant EV cargo proteins under low biotinylation conditions indicates that current workflows approach the lower bounds of biotin enrichment sensitivity. Together, these standards provide a practical reference for evaluating and optimizing biotin enrichment workflows, supporting quantitative and reproducible proximity labeling in proteomics.