NEW INSTRUMENTATION FOR MASS SPECTROMETRY OF BIOMOLECULES

DURING THE LAST YEAR WE HAVE DEMONSTRATED THE FEASIBILITY OF A NEW ANALYTICAL INSTRUMENT CALLED A TANDEM QUADRUPOLE-FOURIER TRANSFORM MASS SPECTROMETER (QFT-MS). IONS MADE IN THE SOURCE REGION OF A QUADRUPOLE MASS SPECTROMETER ARE EXTRACTED AND FOCUSED INTO A BEAM. THE ION BEAM IS THEN INJECTED AXIALLY INTO A SUPERCONDUCTING ELECTROMAGNET WHERE THE IONS ARE DETECTED BY A FOURIER TRANSFORM MASS SPECTROMETER. QFT-MS COMBINES THE POWERFUL SAMPLE IONIZATION FEATURES OF A QUADRUPOLE MASS SPECTROMETER WITH THE VERSATILITY AND HIGH MASS RESOLUTION AVAILABLE WITH FOURIER TRANSFORM DETECTION. THE MAIN GOAL OF THIS RESEARCH IS TO DEVELOP AN ION STORAGE DEVICE THAT WILL INCREASE THE SENSITIVITY OF QFT-MS. THE DEVICE UTILIZES A STRONG MAGNETIC FIELD AND A SEQUENCE OF PULSES TO INTEGRATE WEAK ION CURRENTS UNTIL A SUFFICIENT NUMBER ARE PRESENT TO ACQUIRE A GOOD QUALITY MASS SPECTRUM. IT HAS THE POTENTIAL OF INCREASING THE SENSITIVITY OF QFT-MS OVER ONE HUNDREDFOLD SO THAT PICOMOLE (10-12) LEVELS OF OLIGOPEPTIDES, NUCLEOTIDES, AND CERTAIN DRUGS COULD BE DETECTED AND THEIR STRUCTURES ELUCIDATED. IF THE ION STORAGE DEVICE CAN BE PERFECTED, QFT-MS WILL UNDOUBTEDLY BECOME THE METHOD OF CHOICE FOR THE NEXT GENERATION OF HIGH PERFORMANCE MASS SPECTROMETERS. IONSPEC HAS HAD SEVERAL INQUIRIES FROM PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES INTERESTED IN USING QFT-MS TO SEQUENCE BIOPOLYMERS AND TO ELUCIDATE THE STRUCTURES OF DRUGS COVALENTLY BOUND TO DNA BASES. AGRICULTURAL CHEMICAL COMPANIES ARE INTERESTED IN USING QFT-MS TO IDENTIFY AND QUANTIFY PESTICIDE AND HERBICIDE RESIDUES IN CROPS AND ANIMAL TISSUES. FOR ALL THESE APPLICATIONS, HIGH SENSITIVITY IS ESSENTIAL.