Equipment and Facility

The mass spectrometry core facility the Center for Biomarker Discovery and Translation (CBDT) is equipped with 7 mass spectrometers and 6 HPLC systems. A ThermoFisher LTQ-Orbitrap Velos mass spectrometer, a Q-Exactive mass spectrometer and an Orbitrap Fusion Lumos Tribrid mass spectrometer are used for quantitative global proteomics, glycomics, and glycoproteomics. One Triple quadrupole LCMS-8050 from Shimadzu and one TSQ- Vantage mass spectrometers from ThermoFisher are suited for SRM assay development and high throughput targeted proteomics, glyomics and glycoproteomics. A MALDI-AXIMA Resonance (Shimadzu), which is capable of generating MSn spectra with high mass accuracy and resolution, is well-suited for glycan structural analysis in details and quantitative analysis of proteins or glycans from tissues or cells for using mass spectrometry imaging. A 4800 2D-LC-MALDI-TOT/TOF (AB Sciex) is for novel technology development in both proteomics and glycomics. In addition, the lab maintains full-scale protein chemistry and protein microarray capabilities as well as molecular and cellular studies. Basic equipment includes an automated microarrayer (BioRobotics MicroGrid, Isogen Life Science) for printing protein microarrays or lectin microarrays for protein microarray studies, or printing enzymes over tissue sections for mass spectrometry imaging, liquid handling robot (Versette, Thermo Fisher Scientific) for automated sample preparation for mass spectrometry analysis, NanoDrop® ND-1000 Spectrophotometer, HPLC for 2D separation (Agilent), gel electrophoresis systems and tissue culture room. The lab has also access to a ~2,500 square foot lab space for CBDT with  additional liquid handling robots (TECAN and Biomek 2000), tissue culture system, and various chromatography columns and fraction collector, UV/VIS spectrophotometer, multiplex ELISA system, tissue histology staining and immunohistochemistry assays, and BioRad ChemDoc for image analysis.

 

General computational environment and tools for MS data analysis: The lab has a computer cluster maintained by the Pathology Department IT division with 24/7 support. Other facilities include High-end PC/Workstations for software development, 20+ office PCs.