Seminar: Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry for Proteomics

Fri., Mar. 15, 2013 3:30 p.m. - Fri., Mar. 15, 2013 4:30 p.m.

Location: RIC 208

A revolution in identifying and characterizing biomolecules (particularly proteins) has resulted from the convergence of three dramatic technological developments: (i) Two new ionization methods were discovered in the late 1980s: matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI), and electrospray ionization (ESI), both of produce gas-phase ions from biomolecules with unprecedented sensitivity, universality, and mass range. (ii) Developments in mass spectrometry have dramatically improved the mass range, and the simultaneous access to high sensitivity and high resolution and accuracy. (iii) The completion of genome sequences for an increasing number of organisms, has allowed the generation of protein databases, which significantly constrain the interpretation of complex mass spectra. Mass spectrometry is now used routinely to identify proteins by comparing the peptide mass maps (from enzymatic digests of the proteins) with protein databases, and for protein finger-printing and biomarker discovery by examining the pattern of intact proteins in simplified mixtures.

The Manitoba time-of-flight group had about 10 years experience when MALDI and ESI were invented, and so it was in a good position to take advantage of the new ion sources. This talk will outline the contributions of the Manitoba group, especially in coupling ESI to time-of-flight using collisional cooling and orthogonal injection, and the development of orthogonal-injection MALDI. Recent examination of the fundamental aspects of using MALDI for mass-selected tissue imaging will be presented, including limits on senstitivity and spatial resolution.

Speaker: Dr. Werner Ens, Depatrment of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manitoba

Please download our poster (440 kB) format.