Mass Spectrometry: Instrument Development and Applications to Biomolecules

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This award provides funds to the University of Nebraska for funding of a facility that provides advanced mass spectrometric techniques through collaborations with researchers at Nebraska and at other institutions. One of several approaches to mass spectrometry (MS), tandem MS provides high resolution measurements of compounds with the high molecular weights typical of proteins, nucleic acids and other biopolymers. Efforts sponsored by this award will focus on improving techniques for analysis of variety of proteins, carbohydrates and other natural products using the tandem instrument; a variety of collaborative research projects will be initiated or continued, and training activities at the pre- and post doctoral level will continue. Mass spectrometry plays an increasingly important role in the structural analysis of biomolecules. Information about protein sequence and structure, including naturally occurring modifications of proteins, and similar kinds of information about polysaccharides and other branched chain polymers are obtained with great difficulty by other techniques. Because of the considerable expense of acquisition and operation of tandem MS instruments, this type of mass spectrometric analysis is not routinely available at most research institutions. The Nebraska facility is one of only several in the country that provide researchers at numerous institutions with access to the kind of skilled mass spectrometry needed in many areas of modern biological research.