INSTRUMENTATION FOR ANALYSIS OF HIGH MASS BIOMOLECULES

本提案的长期目标是为以下方面奠定基础： 一个相对较小，便宜，但非常强大的工具， 来自高质量的结构信息和分子量 生物分子 具体来说，仪器将电喷雾 用四极离子阱质谱仪进行离子化。 电喷雾 电离已经显示出能够产生高电荷离子 来自大生物分子（MW > 104 Da）。 可以使用四极离子阱 来操纵这些离子以提供分子量， 结构信息。 这项工作致力于优化界面 在电喷雾源和质量分析器之间， 优化质量/电荷测量的仪器技术，以及 对高电荷的反应性进行基础研究 离子阱环境中的生物分子。 后一项工作旨在 最大限度地提高灵敏度和结构信息量 得到了 这项工作将有利于生物医学界提供 相对低成本的方法， 确定和从广泛的范围内获得结构信息 高质量分子。 拟议的文书由于体积小， 低成本，将更容易获得的研究人员在生物医学 比目前更大更昂贵的仪器 available.

The long-term objective of this proposal is to establish the foundation for a relatively small, inexpensive, but very powerful instrument for obtaining structural information from and molecular weights of high mass biomolecules. Specifically, the instrument will couple electrospray ionization with a quadrupole ion trap mass spectrometer. Electrospray ionization has been shown to be capable of producing highly charged ions from large biomolecules (MW > 104 Da). A quadrupole ion trap can be used to manipulate these ions both to provide molecular weights and to provide structural information. This work is devoted to optimizing the interface between the electrospray on source and the mass analyzer, exploring and optimizing instrumental techniques for mass/charge measurement, and performing fundamental research on the reactivities of the highly charged biomolecules in the ion trap environment. The latter work is designed to maximize both sensitivity and the amount of structural information obtained. This work will benefit the biomedical community by providing relatively low-cost means for making accurate molecular weight determinations and for obtaining structural information from a wide range of high mass molecules. The proposed instrument, due to its small size and low cost, would be much more accessible to researchers in the biomedical community than the much larger and more expensive instrumentation presently available.