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

描述（由申请人提供）：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一些应用中取代放射性示踪剂的使用。新型质谱仪能够以非常高的精度测量金属的稳定同位素比率，从而推动了稳定同位素方法的广泛使用。精度是稳定同位素方法的关键性能指标，在使用富集的稳定同位素示踪剂的应用中，精度的提高大大提高了统计能力。同样令人兴奋的是，人们认识到生物系统中自然质量依赖的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精确地量化这些同位素比率的微小变化。我们正在申请资金购买多收集器电感耦合等离子体质谱计（MC-ICPMS），这将支持一个大型和多样化的研究项目，在这些项目中，矿物和微量元素同位素的使用对促进我们对疾病过程的理解至关重要。该仪器将被安置在威斯康星州立卫生实验室（WSLH）的微量元素无尘室设施中，利用无机质谱法的独特基础设施和专业知识。世卫组织在有效管理其共享工具资源方面有着悠久的历史，并将为增加工作人员和维护新工具提供内部资金。MC-ICPMS将支持和增强美国国立卫生研究院资助项目的核心测量和目标，扩大能力，并为生物医学研究开发有前途的新同位素系统和工具提供基础。

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.