Mass spectrometer (LC-MS)

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This grant application is for a highly sensitive mass spectrometer including a high-performance liquid chromatography system and associated software for the analytics of drugs and endogenous metabolites. Besides the quantification of known drugs, endogenous metabolites and peptides, this system will also support the qualitative identification of structurally so far unknown molecules. The mass spectrometry facility at the Chair of Clinical Pharmacology and Clinical Toxicology is developing and applying quantitative methods for a wide variety of small endogenous metabolites and drugs in different matrices in own research projects as well as in co-operations. The requested system is supposed to replace an old mass spectrometer, that went out of service, and therefore new analytical capacities should be generated. The focus lies on a liquid chromatography mass spectrometer system with high analytical sensitivity in order to achieve low limits of detection and quantification, which are well below those of mass spectrometers currently available at the mass spectrometry facility. Besides the afore mentioned highly sensitive quantification, the new mass spectrometer will expand the present possibilities in the context of untargeted metabolomics. One of the biggest challenges lies in the correct identification of detected signals. The requested mass spectrometer can analyze fragmentation patterns with an additional layer of fragmentation, which constitutes as an important aid for structure elucidation, and hence can help to increase the validity of untargeted metabolomics analyses. Furthermore, it is planned to use commercially available kits for targeted metabolomics with the requested system to complement untargeted metabolomics analyses.