VL7- Introduction to MassSpec

= large-scale study of proteins

Problems of proteomics:

• characterization of organells

• investigation of disease mechanisms

• identification of potential drug targets

= required because of downstream separation and mass spectrometry cannot handle complex mixtures of intact proteins

• usage of trypsin as protease

  -> cleaves c-terminally of lysines (K) and arginines (R)

  -> modified trypsin to overcome autolysis problems and proline problem

Ionizer:

-> converts portion of sample into ions (electrically charged particles)

Mass Analyzer:

-> separates ions according to their m/z by using electrical or magnetic fields

Detector:

-> records the charge and a data system produces a mass spectrum

Graphical visualization of the relationship between m/z and the intensity of ions.

Representa information about the realtive abundance and distribution of ions as peaks.

Elements with same number of protons (= same atomic number) and position in the periodic table, but different amount of neutrons (= different mass number)