Proteomics instruments

Recent developments in MS instrumentation have revolutionised the biochemists toolkit; allowing unprecedented protein expression profiling whilst at the same time allowing traditional assays akin to western blotting to be performed with unrivalled specificity using SRM assays.

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Perhaps the most important impact of mass spectrometry is in the structural elucidation of post-translational modifications, an area in which no other technology comes close in terms of sensitivity, specificity and scale. 

Our Proteomics instruments:

 

Orbitrap Elite™ Hybrid Ion Trap-Orbitrap

Orbitrap mass spectrometer

The Thermo Scientific Orbitrap Elite MS is a high performance hybrid mass spectrometer combining the novel high-field OrbitrapTM analyser with a dual-pressure linear ion trap, the Velos Pro. It is coupled online to a Dionex Ultimate 3000 uHPLC system for upstream separation of molecules and utilises an EASY-Spray™ Ion Source for ease of sample delivery and improved sensitivity through nanolitre flow rates.

The availability of multiple fragmentation techniques (Collision–induced dissociation, CID; High-energy Induced Collision-induced dissociation, HCD, Pulsed Q dissociation, PQD, and Electron Transfer Dissociation, ETD) offers a new level of versatility, sensitivity and performance for many research proteomic research applications including, but not limited to:

  • Bottom-up proteomics / peptide characterization.
  • Top-down proteomics / intact protein characterization.
  • Post translational modifications such as acetylation, glycosylation, phosphorylation and ubiquitination.
  • Absolute or relative quantitation through methodologies such as AQUA, SILAC, TMT or LFQ (label-free quantification).

 

4000 QTRAP

Q Trap mass spectrometer

The ABSciex 4000 QTRAP® MS/MS System is a Hybrid Triple Quadrupole/Linear Ion trap mass spectrometer utilising the powerful Analyst® and BioAnalyst® software, covering data acquisition and processing. Source ionisation is through the reliable and flexible Turbo V™ ion source permitting both electrospray ionisation (ESI) for LC-MS/MS, and atmospheric pressure chemical ionisation (APCI), which is useful for non-readily ionisable compounds such as non-polar molecules.

This instrument is known for its robustness and stability and it is ideal for Selected Multiple Reaction Monitoring (SRM/MRM) to identify and quantify (relative or absolute) small molecules such as peptides or pharmaceutical products and their metabolites.

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