Acquisition of a MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometer

Dartmouth College, Hanover NH

Investigators

Abstract

With support from the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Program, Joshua W. Hamilton and Stephen A. Bobin of Dartmouth College will acquire a Matrix-assisted Laser Desorption Ionization - Time of Flight (MALDI-TOF) Mass Spectrometer. This instrument, which will be used to obtain very accurate molecular weights of biological molecules, will be integrated into the existing Dartmough College Molecular Biology (MB) Core facility. The MALDI-TOF will be particularly important in a new initiative at Dartmough, the Structural Biology Genetics, which is an interdisciplinary, collaborative efforts among the basic science departments of the College of Arts & Sciences, the Dartmough Medical School, and the Thayer School of Engineering. The main functions of the instrument in the facility will be protein identification, peptide synthesis verification and oligonucleotide verification. Five independent investigators also cite projects ranging from the study of bipolar array of microtubules to mRNA export in yeast. The use of the instrument by underrepresented groups is also addressed. Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometry is the technique of choice for obtaining accurate molecular weights on molecules up to and over 300,000 daltons, with extremely high sensitivity. Use of a MALDI-TOF mass spectrometer has therefore become a standard technique in most DNA/protein core facilities. The ability to obtain very accurate molecular weights of biological molecules is fundamental to all biological and biomedical research and essential in a modern research and training environment.