Acquisition of a HR Multi-Collector Inductively-Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer

金属的稳定同位素越来越多地用于人类健康和营养研究，这些新的同位素工具正在几个应用中取代放射性示踪剂的使用。稳定同位素方法的广泛使用受到能够以非常高的精度测量金属的稳定同位素比率的新型质谱仪的开发的推动。精确度是稳定同位素方法的关键性能指标，并且精确度的提高导致在使用富集的稳定同位素“示踪剂”的应用中统计功效的极大提高。同样令人兴奋的是，认识到生物系统中天然的质量依赖性同位素分馏可以提供有关金属生物化学和生理过程的新信息;最新一代的质谱仪能够准确地量化同位素比率的这些非常小的变化。我们正在申请资金购买多接收器电感耦合等离子体质谱仪（MC-ICPMS），这将支持大量不同的研究项目，其中矿物和微量元素同位素的使用对于促进我们对疾病过程的理解至关重要。该仪器将安置在威斯康星州卫生州立实验室（WSLH）的微量元素洁净室设施中，利用无机质谱分析的独特基础设施和专业知识。WSLH在有效管理其共享仪器资源方面有着悠久的历史，并将为新仪器的额外工作人员和维护提供内部资金。MC-ICPMS将支持和增强NIH资助项目的核心测量和目标，扩展能力，并为生物医学研究开发有前途的新同位素系统学和工具提供基础。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Stable isotopes of metals are increasingly being used in human health and nutrition research, and these new isotope tools are supplanting radiotracer use in several applications. The expanding use of stable isotope methods is being fueled by the development of new mass spectrometers that are capable of measuring stable isotope ratios of metals at very high precision. Precision is the key performance metric for stable isotope methods and the enhanced precision results in greatly improved statistical power in applications using enriched stable isotope "tracers". Equally exciting is the recognition that natural mass-dependent isotope fractionation in biological systems can provide novel information about metal biochemistry and physiological processing; and latest generation of mass spectrometers have the capable to accurately quantify these very small changes in isotope ratios. We are requesting funding to purchase a multicollector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (MC-ICPMS) which will support a large and diverse group of research projects where the use of mineral and trace element isotopes are critical to advance our understanding of disease processes. The instrument will be housed in the trace element clean room facility at the University of Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene (WSLH), leveraging the unique infrastructure and expertise in inorganic mass spectrometry. The WSLH has a long history of effective management of its shared-instrument resources and will provide internal funding for additional staff and maintenance of the new instrument. The MC-ICPMS will support and enhance the core measurements and goals of the NIH-funded projects detailed in this application, expand capacity, and provide a foundation from which promising new isotope systematics and tools can be developed for biomedical research.