ESI-TOF Mass Spectrometer for Molecular Mass Analysis: Proteins/Small Molecules

描述（由申请人提供）：申请资金用于为位于圣安东尼奥的德克萨斯大学健康科学中心（UTHSCSA）的研究人员购买Agilent 6224 ESI-TOF质谱仪，用于蛋白质、肽和“小”分子的分子量测定。所要求的仪器将增加宝贵的新功能，以补充现有的质谱实验室（MSL），多年来提供了广泛的蛋白质组学服务。开始努力获得ESI-TOF质谱仪的动力来自于UTHSCSA生物化学系建立的蛋白质生产设施，该设施旨在帮助需要相对大量纯化蛋白质进行结构/生物物理研究但在自己的实验室中没有能力产生所需蛋白质的研究人员。ESI-TOF/MS仪器在市场上的初步探索于2010年中期进行。由于当时没有足够的资金购买仪器，安捷伦的代表就现场评估ESI-TOF/MS的可能性与PI进行了接触。2011年夏天，安捷伦6224安装在MSL中，并在几个月后集成到实验室工作流程中。该仪器已迅速成为支持许多研究项目的关键，特别是NIH资助的一项研究，重点是发现新的天然产物和合成化合物，为癌症治疗提供更有效的疗法。在Agilent 6224上分析过蛋白质样品的研究人员现在认识到，与1-D SDS PAGE和Western blotting提供的精确度低得多的评估相比，获得有关其蛋白质的准确和更全面的分子量信息具有很大的好处。如果这项建议获得资助，该仪器将在开放的环境中提供，这样在经过适当的培训后，用户实验室的工作人员/学生将能够在MSL人员的轻微监督下进行自己的分析。所要求的ESI-TOF质谱仪的分析将更加准确，更具成本效益，并且比目前通过MSL提供的更快的周转时间，并且将适用于更广泛的溶液成分中的样品。与安捷伦的协议是为期一年的评估，但希望时间可以延长，直到审查这一建议， 完成用于分子量测定的ESI-TOF质谱仪的收购有可能对大量NIH资助的研究产生积极影响，这些研究涵盖了生物医学研究的全部学科。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Funds are requested to purchase an Agilent 6224 ESI-TOF mass spectrometer for molecular mass determination of proteins, peptides and "small" molecules for investigators at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA). The requested instrument will add valuable new capabilities to complement the existing Mass Spectrometry Laboratory (MSL) that has offered a wide range of proteomics services for many years. The impetus for initiating the effort to obtain an ESI-TOF mass spectrometer came from the establishment of a protein production facility in the UTHSCSA Department of Biochemistry that was set up to help investigators who require relatively large quantities of purified proteins for structural/biophysical studies but do not have the capacity in their own laboratory to generate the requisite protein. Initial exploration of ESI-TOF/MS instruments on the market took place in mid 2010. Because sufficient funds were not available at that time to purchase an instrument, representatives from Agilent approached the PI about the possibility of an on-site evaluation of an ESI-TOF/MS. An Agilent 6224 was installed in the MSL in summer 2011 and was integrated into the laboratory workflow several months later. The instrument has quickly become essential for support of many research projects, in particular, an NIH-funded investigation focusing on discovery of new natural products and synthetic compounds to provide more effective therapies for the treatment of cancer. Investigators who have had protein samples analyzed on the Agilent 6224 now recognize the substantial benefit of obtaining accurate and more comprehensive molecular mass information about their proteins as compared to the far less precise assessment provided by 1-D SDS PAGE and Western blotting. If this proposal is funded, the instrument will be made available in an open-access environment such that after proper training, staff/students from the users' laboratories will be able to conduc their own analyses with only minor supervision from MSL personnel. Analyses on the requested ESI-TOF mass spectrometer will be much more accurate, more cost-effective and with a faster turn-around time than is currently available through the MSL, and will be amenable to samples in a wider range of solution compositions. The agreement with Agilent is for a one-year evaluation, although it is hoped that the time can be extended until the review of this proposal is completed. The acquisition of an ESI-TOF mass spectrometer for molecular mass determination has the potential to positively impact a large number of NIH-funded investigations covering the full array of disciplines in biomedical research.