Electrospray ionization ion-mobility mass spectrometer

• Subject Area: Basic Research in Biology and Medicine
• Term: Funded in 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 547486103

A high-end mass spectrometer is requested to extend the existing instrumentation available for protein mass spectrometry at the "Center for Structural Mass Spectrometry (CSMS)", Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU). The proposed mass spectrometer will be employed in interfacultative projects between the Faculty of Natural Sciences I and the Medical Faculty. Specifically, the mass spectrometer will serve as basis for all projects of the RTG "Intrinsically Disordered Proteins - Molecular Principles, Cellular Functions, and Diseases" (speaker Prof. A. Sinz) as well as for the planned CRC "Plant Proteoform Diversity (SNP2Prot)" (speaker Prof. M. Quint, co-speakers: Prof. A. Sinz, Prof. T. Romeis). In the planned CRC, the advancement of the cross-linking mass spectrometry (XL-MS) approach towards applications in-planta will be the focus of research. The mass spectrometer is designed to meet the needs of a robust and efficient high-throughput analysis to determine protein conformations and protein-protein interaction networks within the field of structural mass spectrometry. The major application of the instrument will be XL-MS, but it is also intended to be used for hydrogen-deuterium exchange mass spectrometry (HDX-MS) and covalent protein labeling. The instrument will be essential to promote the XL-MS approach from in-vitro applications to in-vivo studies, especially for determining protein-protein interaction networks in plants. In addition, the investigation of intrinsically disordered proteins will be in the center of research. The extension of the CSMS with the requested mass spectrometer will further strengthen the scientific focus in the area of protein mass spectrometry at the MLU.

• DFG Programme: Major Research Instrumentation
• Major Instrumentation: Elektrosprayionisation-Ionenmobilitäts-Massenspektrometer
• Instrumentation Group: 1700 Massenspektrometer
• Applicant Institution: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg
• Leader: Professorin Dr. Andrea Sinz