NSF Award
0320149
This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project proposes to test the feasibility of a new method for achieving high-speed sequencing and structure analysis of drug and biological molecules. The proposed work is expected to demonstrate about 10x faster analysis speeds using quadrupole ion trap, time-of-flight (QitTOF) mass spectrometer (MS). The main test will be new MSn sequencing routines that will benefit conventional ion trap MS as well as QitTOF MS. The goal is to achieve sequencing and structure information for fast chromatographic methods such as capillary liquid chromatography (LC) and capillary electrophoresis (CE). In this work we will demonstrate these capabilities for protein digest mixtures of peptides using a CE / QitTOF MS. Furthermore, the TOF analyzer has the potential to measure accurate masses for elemental composition. This capability will be tested for fragment loss accurate mass analysis.<br/><br/>The commercial application of this project will be in the area of proteomics. There is a tremendous need to develop automated methods of protein analysis and peptide analysis of cell lines to better understand global biological function for improved drug therapy and early detection of disease, such as cancer.
