Purchase of a Multi-User MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometer

Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green OH

Investigators

Abstract

With support from the Chemistry Research Instrumentation and Facilities (CRIF) Program, the Department of Chemistry at Bowling Green State University will acquire a Matrix-assisted Laser Desorption Ionization - Time of Flight (MALDI-TOF) Mass Spectrometer. This instrument will be used in a wide variety of research projects, including a) investigations on novel metal-organic chromophores and materials; b) studies of de novo designed proteins for use in electron transfer and DNA damage; c) studies of supramolecular materials as anion sensors; and d) investigations on self-assembled RNA motifs. 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 studies involving biomolecules. At Bowling Green, this instrument will therefore also be used in the undergraduate Biochemistry laboratory for protein analysis.