High resolution LC-MS/MS device

• Subject Area: Medicine
• Term: Funded in 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 496450835

The application is for a high-resolution mass spectrometer including an upstream HPLC system and the software required for control and data evaluation. The device is intended to identify and quantify drugs, including therapeutically used proteins. In addition, proteome analyses are planned to elucidate pathomechanisms or to search for biomarkers.The determination of pharmacokinetic parameters in the context of clinical studies, which is largely limited to small molecules with the current device, is to be expanded to include therapeutic proteins, in particular antibodies. In the past years, antibodies become more important and are not limited to oncology therapy and the treatment of autoimmune diseases. Qualitative studies are also of special interest. Therefore, investigations with regard to the influence of the glycosylation pattern of proteins on their pharmacodynamics and kinetics are of special interest.At the Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, there is a long lasting expertise in detection and determination of drugs and illegal drugs in wastewater in order to find answers related to environmental toxicological and public health issues. In this research area, the expertise is to be expanded to include non-target analysis, i.e. the identification of substances initially not suspected in the sample. In addition, the identification of conversion products caused by new wastewater cleaning procedures and of drug metabolites in crops plant poured with wastewater are a further research topic. For this purpose, data-independent measurements are necessary (DIA, data independent acquisition; fragment and analyse all ions in a measurement range without pre-selecting certain masses).Several working groups at departments of the University Hospital Dresden, as well as working groups at the Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, are interested in using the requested device for proteome analyses. Samples from cell culture and animal models as well as clinical samples are to be analysed in various projects. The goals are a better understanding of cellular development processes and communication channels as well as the search for new biomarkers and possible therapeutically useful targets. Proteome analysis requires the determination of exact masses and the availability of the DIA mode.

• DFG Programme: Major Research Instrumentation
• Major Instrumentation: Hochauflösendes LC-MS/MS Gerät
• Instrumentation Group: 1700 Massenspektrometer
• Applicant Institution: Technische Universität Dresden
• Leaders: Professor Dr. Ali El-Armouche; Professor Dr. Bertold Renner