Equipment

LCQ-DECA-XP

The ThermoElectron LCQ-DECA-XP is an electrospray ionization ion trap mass spectrometer. This instrument is configured for LC-MS (Liquid Chromatography coupled to Mass Spectrometry) with a LC Packings FAMOS autosampler, a ThermoElectron Surveyor HPLC in-line with the mass spectrometer. The system is automated for use 24 hours per day, 7 days per week and the HPLC is configured for flowrates of less than 500 nanoliters per minute and use columns that are less than 100 microns in internal diameter. The detection limits for peptides is about 10 femtomoles.

LTQ-FT

The ThermoElectron LTQ-FT mass spectrometer is a hybrid instrument that combines linear ion trap and Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance (FT-ICR) mass spectrometers into one instrument. This instrument has an electrospray ionization (ESI) source and it is capable of achieving mass resolutions greater than 100,000, mass accuracies less than 2 parts per million, and limits of detection for peptides under 1 femtomole. This instrument is also equipped with electron capture dissociation (ECD) for the fragmentation of proteins and peptides.

The LTQ-FT is configured for LC-MS (Liquid Chromatography coupled in-line to Mass Spectrometry) allowing for the separation of peptide mixtures. The liquid chromatography instrument used with the LTQ-FT is an Eksigent nano2D HPLC (High Performance Liquid Chromatography instrument). This is a true nano HPLC that does not split the solvent flow rate in order to achieve 100-500 nanoliter per minute flow rates used in LC-MS.

Voyager DE-Pro

The Applied Biosystems Voyager DE-Pro is a MALDI TOF mass spectrometer that is equipped with delayed extraction and a reflector, and it capable of post-source decay experiments. This instrument used for obtaining molecular weights of proteins and peptides.

4800 MALDI TOF-TOF

The Applied Biosystems 4800 MALDI instrument utilizes tandem time-of-flight (TOF/TOF) technology for tandem mass spectrometry (peptide sequencing). This instrument is designed specifically for sensitive, high throughput protein identification and quantification. Mass resolutions greater than 20,000, mass accuracies less than 20 parts per million, and limits of detection for peptides less than 1 femtomole are possible.

Though liquid chromatography cannot be coupled in-line with MALDI, liquid chromatography can be used off line in a technique called "LC-MALDI". In this method, the elution from the HPLC is spotted onto a MALDI target during the chromatographic separation. The target can be analyzed once the chromatography has finished and the spots have dried. The Proteomics Facility is equipped with an Eksigent nano2D HPLC coupled to a LC Packings ProBot MALDI spotting station for performing LC-MALDI experiments.