The primary goal of the Metabolomics Center is to identify and quantify small molecules (metabolites) from various resources including but not limited to plants, animals, and human (BSL1) being. Multiple complementary analytical methods based on mass spectrometry, primarily GC/MS and LC/MS which are funded through the generosity of the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust and National Center for Research Resources, are utilized.
Instruments
Instrumentation
Thermo LC/MS---Altis Triple Quadrupole Mass spectrometer
The TSQ Altis MS is designed for stable, reliable and consistent performance. It has the following features:
- Mass range: m/z 5 ~ m/z 2,000
- Equipped with ESI source
- Operated with Tracefinder software
- Connected with Vanquish UHPLC system
- Ultrafast selected reaction monitoring (SRM) increases the amount of molecular quantifications in less time
For: High-throughput quantitative analysis
Thermo LC/MS --- Q-Exactive Mass Spectrometer
This Hybrid Quadrupole-Orbitrap system combines quadruple precursor ion selection with high-resolution,
accurate-mass (HRAM) Orbitrap detection to help identify and confirm more metabolites. It has the following
features with ESI source:
- Better than 3ppm mass accuracy in full-scan with external calibration
- Resolving power up to 140,000 FWHM
- Extended mass range of m/z 50 - 6,000
- Dedicated data analysis software Compound Discoverer and LipidSearch for metabolite information mining including lipid profiling.
- Connected with Ultimate 3000 HPLC along with diode array detector (DAD)
For: Untargeted metabolite profiling
Lipidomics analysis
Sciex LC/MS---5500 QTrap Mass Spectrometer
A benchtop hybrid triple Quadrupole-linear accelerator trap mass spectrometer designed for LC/MS/MS analysis. Available Turbo V™ Source includes ESI, and APCI. It has the following features:
- Scan modes include: full scan and selected ion scan for both Q1 and Q3, Product Ion Scan, Precursor Ion Scan, Neutral Loss Scan, Multiple Reaction Monitoring (MRM), Enhanced MS Scan, Enhanced Product Ion Scan, Enhanced Resolution Scan, and MS3 scan
- Mass range of m/z 5 ~ m/z 1,250
- Connected with Agilent 1200 HPLC
For: Superior quantitative analysis
6500+ Triple Quadrupole Mass
Spectrometer
A benchtop triple Quadrupole mass spectrometer designed for LC/MS/MS analysis. Available IonDrive™ Turbo V Source includes ESI, and APCI. It has the following features:
- Scan modes include: full scan and selected ion scan for both Q1 and Q3, Product Ion Scan, Precursor Ion Scan, Neutral Loss Scan, Multiple Reaction Monitoring (MRM)
- Mass range of m/z 5 ~ m/z 2,000
- Up to 6 orders of linear dynamic range
- Increased throughput with polarity switching speeds of 5 msec
- Connected with Agilent 1260 infinite II HPLC
For: Utmost quantitative analysis
Agilent GC/MS
A benchtop mass spectrometer designed for small metabolite analysis. It has the following features:
- Equipped with EI and CI sources.
- 7890B GC with 5977A Extractor XL MS
- With commercial Wiley and NIST libraries
- Mass range of m/z 2 ~ m/z 800
- Operated with MassHunter Software
For: Utmost quantitative analysis
Agilent GC/MS
A benchtop mass spectrometer designed for small metabolite analysis. It has the following features:
- Equipped with EI and CI sources.
- 7890A GC with 5975C MS
- With commercial Wiley and NIST libraries
- Mass range of m/z 2 ~ m/z 800
For: Targeted metabolite profiling analysis