MRI: Acquisition of a FT ICR Mass Spectrometer

有了这项重大研究仪器（MRI）计划的奖励，马萨诸塞州阿默斯特大学化学系将获得傅里叶变换离子回旋共振质谱仪（FT ICR MS）。 该仪器将进一步促进化学和生命科学领域的研究工作，特别强调蛋白质折叠，动力学和相互作用;糖胺聚糖结构-功能关系;蛋白质-聚合物缀合物的设计和优化;蛋白质聚集和淀粉样变性的机制;以及生物系统中的信号传导。它还将使研究人员能够开发新的方法来研究基于氢/氘交换的生物聚合物行为。质谱法（MS）用于鉴定样品的化学成分，并通过测量样品中分子成分的质量来确定其纯度。 傅里叶变换离子回旋共振质谱仪（FT ICR MS）在蛋白质等大分子的高分辨率质量测量中特别有用。 该仪器将用于博士后研究员、研究生和本科生的研究项目，以加强他们在现代化学和相关生命科学关键领域的劳动力培训。 它将加强马萨诸塞大学阿默斯特分校的科学基础设施，提高其对化学和相关生命科学做出重要和持久贡献的能力。

With this award from the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program, the Chemistry Department at the University of Massachusetts Amherst will acquire a Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer (FT ICR MS). The instrumentation will further catalyze the research efforts in Chemistry and Life Sciences, with particular emphasis on the fields of protein folding, dynamics and interaction; glycosaminoglycans structure-function relationships; design and optimization of protein-polymer conjugates; mechanism of protein aggregation and amyloidosis; and signaling in biological systems. It will also enable researchers to develop new methodologies to study biopolymer behavior based on hydrogen/deuterium exchange.Mass spectrometry (MS) is used to identify the chemical composition of a sample and determine its purity by measuring the mass of the molecular constituents in the sample after they are ionized and detected by the mass spectrometer. A Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer (FT ICR MS) is especially useful for high resolution mass measurements in studies of large macromolecules such as proteins. The instrument will be used in research projects by post-doctoral fellows, graduate students and undergraduates strengthening their workforce training in areas critical to modern chemistry and related life sciences. It will strengthen the scientific infrastructure at UMass-Amherst enhancing its ability to make important and lasting contributions to the chemical and related life sciences.