An Orbitrap Astral Mass Spectrometer for Elevating Proteomics Sensitivity at Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences Newark Campus

Rutgers Biomedical And Health Sciences, Newark NJ

Investigators

Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract The Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences (RBHS) seeks NIH support to acquire a Thermo Orbitrap Astral mass spectrometer (Astral MS) for the Center for Advanced Proteomics Research (CAPR) on its Newark campus. CAPR supports over 150 NIH-sponsored projects. The influx of research grants at Rutgers, growing from $644 million to $929 million from FY14 to FY24, has increased demand for mass spectrometry services at CAPR. While once cutting-edge, the existing Thermo Lumos Tribrid MS is now inadequate for many sensitivity-demanding projects due to its limited sensitivity and impending obsolescence. The Astral MS, with its enhanced data-independent acquisition (DIA) sensitivity, can detect over 10,000 human proteins, a crucial capability for integrating proteomic data with RNA-seq and discovering changes in protein expression and post-translational modifications. It also significantly improves data-dependent analysis of immunopeptidomes, a vital aspect of cancer immunotherapy and vaccine development, by detecting low- abundance peptides more effectively. Comparative evaluations revealed the superiority of the Astral MS in identifying low-abundance proteins and peptides compared to the Lumos and new Bruker timsTOF Ultra MS. The Astral MS detected over 60% more phosphopeptides and 100% more proteins than the Lumos MS and significantly more immunopeptides, highlighting its potential to revolutionize CAPR proteomic research support capabilities. Operational practicalities have been thoroughly considered, with a smooth integration of the Astral MS anticipated, given CAPR's familiarity with Thermo instruments and software. CAPR is confident in the substantial benefits that this instrument's exceptional sensitivity and speed enhancements will bring, bolstering sensitivity and service capacity for the users. Incorporating an Astral MS will effectively address sensitivity requirements among our 16 major users and 10 minor users, who have substantiated their needs for this new instrument based on the scientific aims of their NIH-funded research projects. Acquiring a Thermo Orbitrap Astral mass spectrometer is critical for CAPR to continue supporting NIH-funded investigations, enhance their DIA quantification sensitivity and DDA immunopeptidome sensitivity, and stay at the forefront of the rapidly evolving proteomics field.