Purchase of a MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometer

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With support from the Chemistry Research Instrumentation and Facilities (CRIF) Program, the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Arizona State University will acquire a Matrix-assisted Laser Desorption Ionization - Time of Flight (MALDI-TOF) Mass Spectrometer. This instrument will facilitate research in a number of areas: a) the synthesis of organic compounds, including large porphyrin-based complexes; b) characterization of intermediates and products involved in the biosynthesis of the glycosylated carotenoid myxoxanthophyll; c) characterization of proteins that have undergone posttranslational modifications; d) characterization of synthetic DNA binding polypeptides; and e) proteomics study on extracellular enzymes that degrade phenolic comopounds. Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometry is the technique of choice for obtaining accurate molecular weights on molecules up to and over 300,000 daltons, with extremely high sensitivity. Use of a MALDI-TOF mass spectrometer has therefore become a standard technique in most DNA/protein core facilities. The ability to obtain very accurate molecular weights of biomolecules is fundamental to all biological and biomedical research and essential in a modern research and training environment.