ICP-MS to Measure Elemental Concentrations

描述（由申请人提供）：在此申请中，我们需要一台电感耦合等离子体质谱仪（ICP-MS）用于OHSU生物化学和分子生物学系的金属离子核心。ICP-MS具有灵敏度高、质量精度高、线性检测范围宽的特点。由于质量精度和灵敏度高，测定同位素比值的实验也成为可能。由于这些独特的特性，ICP- MS是医学研究机构通常执行的各种生物医学项目的完美工具。在与疾病相关的研究项目中，能够可靠地确定生物材料中的元素浓度往往是至关重要的，特别是当这些疾病是由金属代谢紊乱引起或涉及金属代谢紊乱时。在阐明含金属酶的功能或对蛋白质进行结构研究时，元素含量的准确测量也至关重要。在过去的5年里，OHSU的金属离子核心为多位研究人员提供了与生物材料中金属和元素浓度相关的服务。目前，可用的仪器来确定元素浓度往往是一个限制步骤。ICP-MS将使金属离子核心的现有和新用户能够在他们的研究中纳入必要但目前无法获得的测量。我们选择的具体仪器是Perkin Elmer的Elan DRCII。在过去的25年里，Perkin Elmer一直是ICP-MS仪器的领先制造商。虽然其他制造商的仪器是可用的，但目前在OHSU等医学院环境中，它们的占地面积非常有限，在这些环境中，通常会分析大量不同的样品材料。Elan DRCII提供了目前可用的最佳检测限，同时有效地消除了通常发生在生物材料中的干扰。目前，学校没有ICP-MS仪器。现有的能够测定校园内金属浓度的仪器受到线性范围的限制，无法同时测量多种元素，或者需要大量样品。然而，在整个OHSU中显然需要ICP-MS。来自多个学院和院系的研究人员对获得ICP-MS表示了兴趣和大力支持。各种严重疾病要么是由金属代谢紊乱引起的，要么是由金属依赖酶的功能障碍引起的。为了提高对特定疾病机制的认识或确定金属依赖酶的功能，能够可靠地确定元素浓度至关重要。只有ICP-MS仪器才能提供必要的高灵敏度和高质量精度来成功地进行此类测量。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): In this application, we are requesting an ICP-MS (Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer) for the Metal Ion Core in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at OHSU. An ICP-MS determines the concentration for elements from Li to U with high sensitivity, high mass accuracy and a broad linear detection range for elemental concentration. Because of the high mass accuracy and sensitivity experiments that determine isotope ratios are also possible. Due to these unique properties an ICP- MS is the perfect tool for a variety of biomedical projects that are typically performed at a medical research institution. Being able to reliably determine elemental concentrations in biological material is often crucial in disease related research projects especially if these diseases are caused or involve disturbances in metal metabolism. Accurate measurements of elemental content are also critical also when elucidating the function of metal containing enzymes or performing structural studies on proteins. Over the past 5 years the Metal Ion Core at OHSU has provided services related to metal and elemental concentrations in biological material to multiple researchers. Presently, the available instrumentation to determine elemental concentrations is often a limiting step. An ICP-MS would enable existing and new users of the Metal Ion Core to incorporate necessary but currently unavailable measurements in their research. The specific instrument that we selected is the Elan DRCII from Perkin Elmer. Perkin Elmer has been, by far, the leading manufacturer of ICP-MS instruments for the past 25 years. While instruments from other manufacturers are available they currently have only a very limited footprint in medical school settings like OHSU, where a plethora of different sample materials are typically analyzed. The Elan DRCII offers the best detection limits currently available while effectively eliminating interferences as they typically occur in biological material. Currently, there is no ICP-MS instrument on campus. Available instruments that are capable of determining metal concentrations on campus are limited by the range of linearity, inability to simultaneously measure multiple elements, or their requirements for large sample volumes. However, there is a clear need for an ICP-MS throughout OHSU. Researchers from several schools and departments within the school expressed their interest and strong support for acquiring an ICP-MS. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE A variety of severe disorders are either caused by disturbances in metal metabolism or by the dysfunction of metal dependent enzymes. To advance the knowledge about specific disease mechanisms or determine the function of metal dependent enzymes it is crucial to be able to reliably determine elemental concentrations. Only ICP-MS instrumentation offers the necessary high sensitivity and high mass accuracy to successfully perform such measurements.