Mass spectrometry
hideMass spectrometry (MS) is an analytical technique for the determination of the elemental composition of a sample or molecule. It is also used for elucidating the chemical structures of molecules, such as peptides and other chemical compounds. The MS principle consists of ionizing chemical compounds to generate charged molecules or molecule fragments and measurement of their mass-to-charge ratios. In a typical MS procedure:
MS instruments consist of three modules: an ion source, which can convert gas phase sample molecules into ions (or, in the case of electrospray ionization, move ions that exist in solution into the gas phase); a mass analyzer, which sorts the ions by their masses by applying electromagnetic fields; and a detector, which measures the value of an indicator quantity and thus provides data for calculating the abundances of each ion present. The technique has both qualitative and quantitative uses. These include identifying unknown compounds, determining the isotopic composition of elements in a molecule, and determining the structure of a compound by observing its fragmentation. Other uses include quantifying the amount of a compound in a sample or studying the fundamentals of gas phase ion chemistry (the chemistry of ions and neutrals in a vacuum). MS is now in very common use in analytical laboratories that study physical, chemical, or biological properties of a great variety of compounds.
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News tagged with mass spectrometry
Researchers Begin to Decipher Metabolism of Sexual Assault Drug
Nov 19, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- It’s a naturally occurring brain chemical with an unwieldy name: 4-hydroxybutyrate (4-HB). Taken by mouth, it can be abused or used as a date-rape drug.
Exploration by explosion: Studying the inner realm of living cells
Nov 11, 2009 |
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Scientists in Washington, DC, are reporting development and successful tests of a new way for exploring the insides of living cells, the microscopic building blocks of all known plants and animals. They explode ...
New imagining technique could lead to better antibiotics and cancer drugs
Nov 09, 2009 |
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A recently devised method of imaging the chemical communication and warfare between microorganisms could lead to new antibiotics, antifungal, antiviral and anti-cancer drugs, said a Texas AgriLife Research scientist.
Scientists visualize how bacteria talk to one another
Nov 08, 2009 |
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Using imaging mass spectrometry, researchers at the University of California, San Diego have developed tools that will enable scientists to visualize how different cell populations of cells communicate. Their ...
Research shows fish oil may protect against stroke from ruptured carotid artery plaques
Oct 01, 2009 |
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Research led by Hernan A. Bazan, MD, Assistant Professor of Surgery, Section of Vascular Surgery, at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans School of Medicine, has found that unstable carotid artery plaques - those in danger ...
New Perspectives on Cancer Surgery
Sep 29, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Instead of the classic scalpel, surgeons can also operate with an electroscalpel. A significant advantage to this technique is that while a cut is being made, blood vessels are closed off ...
Lab-on-a-Chip Performs 1,000 Chemical Reactions At Once
Chemistry / Analytical Chemistry
Sep 27, 2009 |
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Flasks, beakers, and hot plates may soon be a thing of the past in medicinal chemistry labs. Instead of handling a few experiments on a benchtop, scientists may simply pop a microchip into a computer and instantly run thousands ...
Finding Better Ways to Diagnose Heart Attacks
Sep 25, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- UA biochemistry researchers apply Nobel Prize technology to develop better diagnostics for heart attacks. Their work also could help predict individual risks of heart disease.
Drug discovery process more accurate, less expensive using novel mass spectrometry application
Chemistry / Analytical Chemistry
Sep 17, 2009 |
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Cancer and cell biology experts at the University of Cincinnati (UC) have developed a new mass spectrometry-based tool they say provides more precise, cost-effective data collection for drug discovery efforts.
MSU professor studies links between gastric bypass, immune system
Jul 30, 2009 |
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While the massive weight loss associated with gastric bypass surgery is beneficial, some patients may face malnutrition, poor wound healing and infection as their immune systems adjust to the extreme decrease ...
Electronic nose created to detect skin vapours
Chemistry / Analytical Chemistry
Jul 22, 2009 |
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A team of researchers from the Yale University (United States) and a Spanish company have developed a system to detect the vapours emitted by human skin in real time. The scientists think that these substances, ...
New or not? Cracking cyclic natural products for new drugs
Jul 13, 2009 |
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Researchers have invented computational tools to decode and rapidly determine whether natural compounds collected in oceans and forests are new—or if these pharmaceutically promising compounds have already ...
New biomarker method could increase the number of diagnostic tests for cancer
Jun 29, 2009 |
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A team of researchers, including several from UCSF, has demonstrated that a new method for detecting and quantifying protein biomarkers in body fluids may ultimately make it possible to screen multiple biomarkers in hundreds ...
Komodo even more deadly than thought: Research
May 18, 2009 |
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The carnivorous reptiles (Varanus komodoensis) are known to bite prey and release them, leaving them to bleed to death from their wounds: the victims are reported to go into shock before the dragons kill a ...
Circadian rhythms studies reveal new temperature regulator and track clock protein across a day
May 15, 2009 |
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Dartmouth Medical School geneticists have made new inroads into understanding the regulatory circuitry of the biological clock that synchronizes the ebb and flow of daily activities, according to two studies published May ...
