Bio-imaging mass spectrometry techniques reveal molecular details about compl...(ical Mass Spectrometry Facility and Yanf...),Health
ical Mass Spectrometry Facility, and Yanfeng Chen, a research scientist in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, showed that the homogeneity of the matrix could be improved. With this development, broader categories of compounds, such as lipids, could be analyzed.
The researchers used an oscillating capillary nebulizer to spray small droplets of matrix aerosol onto the sample surface a process similar to airbrushing. Using histological samples provided by Timothy Cox, a professor of medicine at the University of Cambridge, the researchers could profile and localize many different lipid species in the samples. Specifically, they localized sphingolipids that accumulate in the brain when there is a genetic defect. This research was funded by the National Institutes of Health.
While MALDI samples must be analyzed in a vacuum, recent advances allow samples to be studied under ambient conditions. Facundo Fernandez, an assistant professor in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, has been using a technique called desorption electrospray ionization (DESI).
With DESI, a high-speed, charged spray containing alcohol and water is directed at a sample a few millimeters away. The solvent droplets pick up portions of the sample through interaction with the surface and then form highly charged ions that can be analyzed.
Fernandez and his research team recently used DESI to analyze nearly 400 drug samples provided by public health authorities to identify counterfeit anti-malarial drugs. Activities aimed at addressing the widespread problem of counterfeit anti-malarial drugs were reported February 12th in the journal PLoS Medicine. Georgia Tech's efforts to develop faster analytical techniques were sponsored by the U.S. National Science Foundation, while the sample analysis was supported by a small grant from the World Health Organization.
"We have done a lot of work using DESI to analyze pharmaceutical formulations, but we are
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| Contact: Abby Vogel avogel@gatech.edu 404-385-3364 Georgia Institute of Technology Research News Source:Eurekalert |
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