(MS) is an analytical technique that produces spectra (singular spectrum) of the masses of the atoms or molecules comprising a sample of material. The spectra are used to determine the elemental or isotopic signature of a sample, the masses of particles and of molecules, and to elucidate the chemical structures of molecules, such as peptides and other chemical compounds,so it is considered one f the very important diagnostic analytical techniques .
Case presentation (lab analytical quality assurance problem )
Mass spectrometry basic principles
1. MEDICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE– ALEXANDRIA UNIVERSITY
15 th conference (3 rd international)
ADVANCES IN MEDICAL RESEARCH
` From molecular medicine-to clinical
application`
Mass spectrometric techniques
RANIA MOHAMED EL-SHARKAWY
Lecturer of clinical chemistry
, Medical Research Institute
Alexandria University
3. Mass spectrometry (MS)
Mass spectrometry is a powerful analytical
technique that is used to identify unknown
compounds, to quantify known materials,
and to elucidate the
structure and chemical properties of
molecules
A mass spectrometer is a device that
measures the mass-to-charge (m/z) ratio of ions.
9. Hard ionization: the resulting unique fragmentation
patterns can be used as a fingerprint for the
identification of the sample. Fragment ions also
provide important information about the primary
structure
. (i.e. sequence) of the sample molecules
Soft ionization is applied to a stable molecule,
the exact m/z value of its stable molecular
thus, allows for the compositional analysis of
the sample of unknown structure under
.study
11. Chemical ionization
A proton is transferred to or abstracted
from ,a gas phase analyte by a reagent
gas molecule
Little or no fragmentation as the protonated
molecule is not highly excited in the chemical
ionization
Uses: analyte molecular mass determination & quantification
14. The 2002 Nobel Prize in
Chemistry was awarded to
two mass spectrometrists
(J. Fenn and K. Tanaka) for
their
development
ionization
of
techniques,
which include electrospray
ionization
16. SELDI
Modification of MALDI surface a type of affinitycapture property
Sample of interest is exposed to affinity surface ,certain analyte will preferentially bind
Washing to remove excessMatrix is added to asset ionizationUses: analysis of protein mixture with low sample
size (purification&analysis occur on the same
surface
19. The mass analyzer separates the ions formed
in the ionization source according to their
mass-to-charge (m/z) ratios using some
physical property e.g. electric or magnetic
fields.
23. • A tiny current is produced when the ion
reaches the detector.
• The detector amplifies the signals which are
then transmitted to the data system to be
represented as peaks on a mass spectrum
Mass spectrum: graphic representation of ions
separated according to their m/z ratio
26. Mass spectrum
Questions needs to be asked??
1.Negative or positive mode
2.Types of ion source result in different
arrays of fragments produced from the
original molecules.
3.origin of a sample
4. How the sample was prepared ??
27. Interpretation of mass spectra
• compare its experimental mass spectrum against a
library of mass spectra
library of mass spectra
•
If the search comes up empty, then manual
interpretation or software assisted interpretation of mass
spectra are performed
•A recent technique for structure elucidation in mass
spectrometry, called precursor ion fingerprinting
identifies individual pieces of structural information by
conducting a search of the tandem spectra of the
molecule under investigation against a library of the
product-ion spectra of structurally characterized
precursor
29. Techniques
Of mass spectrometry
• GC –MS :
1.Definitive method to quantify
standard reference materials
2.Identifying trace contaminants
or toxins
3.Identification of drugs
33. Tandem Mass Spectrometry
A tandem mass spectrometer is a mass
spectrometer that has more than one
analyser, usually two, with a collision
chamber in between.
34. MS/MS uses 2 stages of mass analysis:
1. Selection of an ion
2. Analysis of ion fragments produced by collision with inert gas.
41. Advantages of MS/MS as a screening tool
in NBS
Sensitive
Specific
Accurate Quantitation
Internal standards: gold standard for accuracy
High impact
Multiple Metabolite, Multiple Disease Screening
cost effective
High throughput
42. applications of mass spectrometry
to study proteins
Best techniques:
•ESI - Quadrupole
•MALDI-TOF
•SELDI-TOF
43. TOP-DOWN approach
intact proteins are ionized
by either of the three
techniques described
above, and then introduced
to a mass analyzer
44. BOTTOM-UP approach
Bottom-up proteomics is a common
method to identify proteins and
characterize their amino acid
sequences and post-translational
modifications by proteolytic digestion
of proteins prior to analysis by mass
spectrometry.
45. applications of mass spectrometry
to study proteins
Identifying unknown proteins
Protein sequencing ( peptides are
sequenced by generating multiple sets
of peptides)
46. applications of mass spectrometry
to study proteins
Identification of chemical modification
( post-translational modification in
proteins after synthesis)
Identification of organisms
(identifying bacteria by finger printing
proteins)
Editor's Notes
First The sample has to be introduced into the ionisation source of the instrument. Once inside the ionisation source, the sample molecules are ionised, because ions are easier to manipulate than neutral molecules. The formedn ions enter the mass analyzer where they are sorted according to their mass (m) -to-charge (z) ratios (m/z). the ions encountered in Mass Spectrometry have just one charge (z=1) so the m/z value is numerically equal to the molecular (ionic) mass in Daltons. The sorted ions reach the detector where they are detected and sent to the data system for analysis and representation in the format of a m/z spectrum. The analyser and detector of the mass spectrometer, and often the ionisation source too, are maintained under high vacuum to give the ions a reasonable chance of travelling from one end of the instrument to the other without any hindrance from air molecules
Charged particles easier to manipulate than neutral
MALDI is based on the bombardment of sample molecules with a laser light to bring about sample ionisation. The sample is pre-mixed with a highly absorbing matrix compound. The matrix transforms the laser energy into excitation energy for the sample, which leads to sputtering of analyte and matrix ions from the surface of the mixture.
A mass analyzer uses some physical property (e.g., electric or magnetic fields or time of flight) to separate ions of a particular m/z value, The main function of the mass analyser is to separate , or resolve , the ions formed in the ionisation source of the mass spectrometer according to their mass-to-charge (m/z) ratios.
The time-of-flight analyser separates ions by measuring the time it takes ions to travel through an air-free region known as the flight tube. Poor mass resolution
Heavier ions are slower than lighter ones.
Quadrupole mass analyzers consist of four rods with a circular or hyperbolic cross section. Each pair of opposing rods is either positively or negatively charged (Fig. 2 ). The ions entering the analyzer are separated according to their mass-to-charge ratio based on their trajectories when exposed to the electric field in the space between the rods. oscillate in an electric field (the quadrupole field) between the paired rods of the quadrupole. By changing the characteristics of the field, ions can be manipulated & molecules with a specific m/z ratio (molecule A+) will oscillate with a harmonic ion trajectory creating an ion beam that traverses the quadrupole. All other ions (molecule B+) are filtered out of the ion beam.
The m/z values of the ions are plotted against their intensities to show the number of components in the sample, the molecular mass of each component, and the relative abundance of the various components in the sample.
MALDI is based on the bombardment of sample molecules with a laser light to bring about sample ionisation. The sample is pre-mixed with a highly absorbing matrix compound. The matrix transforms the laser energy into excitation energy for the sample, which leads to sputtering of analyte and matrix ions from the surface of the mixture.
After being prepped, the sample is injected into the first instrument. While in the first instrument, the sample is ionized to produce molecular ions and the type of molecules present are determined based upon mass-to-charge (m/z) ratio. The entire process, from ionization and sample injection to data acquisition takes only seconds.
The ionized molecules are sorted and weighed. Afterward, the sample is sent into the collision cell chamber.
In the collision cell chamber, the molecular ion sample is broken into fragmented pieces, called analytes, which are like pieces of a puzzle.
After being fragmented, the sample is passed into the second instrument. Within the second instrument, quantities of the selected analyte (s) are sorted and weighed according to their m/z ratio.
The peak of each analyte is compared to internal standard to yield both a qualitative and quantitative result .The result can be analyzed within minutes using sophisticated computer programs to produce histograms for analysis.