Mission Statement

The Mass Spectrometry Core is dedicated to providing a wide range of mass spectral analyses to UTMB investigators. As an integral component of the BRF Proteomics Section, it is a vital proteomics resource for the UTMB community, providing high quality data in a timely manner and engaging investigators in the interpretation of the results.

A wide range of analyses are available including MALDI-TOF, MALDI-TOF/TOF, electrospray (ESI) LC/MS and ESI-LC/MS/MS.

Services Available

• MALDI-TOF
• MALDI-TOF/TOF
• ESI-LC/MS
• ESI-LC/MS/MS
• Peptide mass fingerprint analysis
• Post-translational modification identification
• Stable isotope related procedures ( iTRAQ, and ¹⁸O and SILAC)

Quality Control

Data quality is ensured through the use of appropriate internal and external standards. The MALDI-TOF mass spectrometers are calibrated with external standards that vary depending on the analyte molecular weight. This results in the best calibration for the most accurate mass assignments. Samples that have been trypsin digested are internally recalibrated from observed trypsin autolysis fragments. The electrospray mass spectrometers are calibrated using polyalanine which allows for a distribution of multiple mass peaks. A variety of search engines for protein identification from mass fingerprinting and for interpretation of MS/MS spectra are available each of which generates its own statistics. The choice of database searching software to be applied is optional to investigators and discussion of this matter is encouraged with Core personnel.

Major Core Equipment

• Applied Biosystems Voyager-DE STR MALDI-TOF
• Waters/Micromass Qtof-2 with Waters Cap LC system
• Applied Biosystems 4700 Proteomics Analyzer (MALDI TOF/TOF)
• Applied Biosystems 4800 MALDI TOF/TOF Analyzer (COMING SOON)
• Applied Biosystems 4000 QTRAP with LC Packings capillary LC system

Protocols
Trypsin digestion