Mass Spectrometry Made Easier By Scripps
A team at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) has developed a highly sensitive technology which enables scientists to rapidly analyze single cells, tissue, and biofluids such as blood and urine with little or no advance sample preparation.
The new nanotechnology is called Nanostructure-Initiator Mass Spectrometry, or NIMS for short. Mass Spectrometers are used to determine important information about a molecule’s mass and structure using a process known as ionization.
Although two other methods of mass spectrometry, electrospray ionization (ESI) and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI), are already commonly used in the metabolomics field, they have certain limitations including the need for time-consuming preparations of each sample.
TSRI researchers believe the new technology will provide a useful tool for biochemists, clinical diagnosticians, and other scientists studying metabolites for clues about genetically expressed diseases like cancer. The new NIMS technology has already been used to reveal detailed images of localized lipid placement in tissue samples.
Now Scripps scientists are working on ways to broaden the scope of NIMS by interfacing the technique with other types of mass spectrometry. As one of the study’s lead authors explains,
“In the near future, the ability to study large numbers of metabolites directly from cells, tissues, and biofluids will give us new insights into biological processes and diagnostics, particularly in combination with increasingly available genetic and proteomic information. NIMS will be an important platform for these studies.”
Findings from the NIMS study are published in the October 25, 2007, edition of Nature.
Source: Scripps News & Publications
Related Links: NCI; University of Wisconsin–Madison; Chemistry World
Related Video:
Related Podcast: Metabolomics with Dr Mike Milburn and Tim Germann of Metabolon, Inc from Radio In Vivo on WCOM 103.5 FM
Tags: nanostructures; Oscar Yanes, PhD; Gary Siuzdak, PhD; University of California at Santa Barbara; University of Oregon; US Department of Energy; National Science Foundation; Swedish Research Council; NIH; chemical fingerprinting; La Jolla; California; nonprofit research
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