CROMATOGRAPHY

- An A-Q Exactive Hybrid Quadrupole-Orbitrap Mass Spectrometer is primarily used for mass spectrometry imaging using an Elevated Pressure Matrix-Assisted Laser/Desorption (EP MALDI) source.
The system has an integrated Nd: YAG laser for imaging down to the cellular level (10 µm2) along with a single-stage Orbitrap analyzer enabling high-resolution and accurate mass detection.
Routine quantification of small molecules is performed on a QTRAP 4000 LC-MS/MS system (AB Sciex) coupled with a Vanquish high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) (Thermo) and delivers confident analyte identification in the field of drug discovery and lipidomics. The QTRAP 4000 platform is ideally suited for robust quantitation assays of drugs, metabolites, and lipids.
For MALDI MS imaging tissue preparation, a Leica CM1860 cryostat is available to prepare thin cryosections. Two MALDI matrix application devices are available, a TM-Sprayer (HTX) for wet application of matrix and a novel lab-built sublimation device for dry matrix application. A Cippergent TOF/TOF system from Biorad for proteomic analysis is also available.
- An HPLC Ultimate 3000 (Thermo) with an electrochemical detector to identify neurotransmitters. A high-resolution slide scanner (Hamamatsu, NanoZoomer 2.0RS, Japan), as well as all the equipment required for correlative mass spectrometry and microscopy. This setup is unique in the world for the study of several pathogens.