High-resolution Mass Spectrometer (partial financing)

• Subject Area: Basic Research in Biology and Medicine
• Term: Funded in 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 538898546

Application for a high-resolution mass spectrometer together with a nano high-performance liquid chromatography system to support the infrastructure platform of the core facility Proteomics Centre Konstanz of the University of Konstanz. The requested mass spectrometer will strengthen the range of applications in MS-based proteomics that are currently offered by the Proteomics Centre Konstanz and is supposed to particularly broaden the range of applications that can be offered in the area of native mass spectrometry (MS). The Proteomcis Center Konstanz is a Core Facility certified by the German Research Council. Its particular focus on the analysis of proteins renders it the central infrastructure platform for MS-based proteomics analyses in the ongoing research consortia CRC, CRC-TRR , the international ASAP Research Networks "Cellular Mechanism of LRRK2 in Health and Disease" and the Konstanz Research School Chemical Biology. It is of similar importance for a large number of research collaborations in the applied for CRC "Chemical and Biological Principles of Cellular Trigger Responses" and the Excellence Cluster EXC_ChemBioStasis. In total more than 30 experimental research groups from the Department of Biology and the Department of Chemistry use the Proteomics Center on a regular basis. A central and common goal of all these different research consortia is to gain a molecular understanding of how posttranslational modifications (PTMs) influence and modify the function of proteins and protein complexes. The applied for mass spectrometer will therefore in particular contribute to the investigation of protein complexes and their dynamic regulation via PTMs. Over the last couple of years, the Proteomics Center was able to show in collaboration with multiple research groups at the University of Konstanz that the combination of methods from bio-orthogonal chemistry with MS-based proteomics approaches is very well suited to study PTM-specific protein-protein interactions. In the future we now want to extend this approach to study additional proteins, protein complexes, modulators as well as a larger number of different PTMs. The applied for mass spectrometer will put us in a position to study also intact proteins and very large protein complexes at high resolution. The unique capability of the applied for mass spectrometer to generate such high-resolution data of intact protein complexes is hereby key to obtain information about their stoichiometry and extent of posttranslational modification and will be used to study how different modulators as lipids, sugars or small molecules affect these complexes. Furthermore, the applied for mass spectrometer will also enable us to investigate the molecular consequences of a potential crosstalk between different PTMs and help us to understand how protein complexes are dynamically regulated by PTMs.

• DFG Programme: Major Research Instrumentation
• Major Instrumentation: Hochauflösendes Massenspektrometer
• Instrumentation Group: 1700 Massenspektrometer
• Applicant Institution: Universität Konstanz
• Leader: Professor Dr. Florian Stengel