MRI: Acquisition of a Liquid Chromatograph-Tandem Quadrupole-Orbitrap Fourier Transform Mass Spectrometer for High-Throughput Biological Analyses

University Of Tennessee Knoxville, Knoxville TN

Investigators

Abstract

An award is made to the University of Tennessee (UT) to acquire a Dionex UltiMate 3000 liquid chromatograph-Q Exactive Plus tandem quadrupole-Orbitrap Fourier transform mass spectrometer (LC Q Exactive), which will be the center piece instrument of the institution's Biological and Small Molecule Mass Spectrometry Core (BSMMSC) that provides state-of-the-art metabolomics and lipidomics support. This instrument will have broad impacts for the training and outreach capabilities or the institution and core, and acquisition of the LC-Q Exactive will strengthen both intra- and inter-organizational collaborations by providing new capabilities and infrastructure. Further, this instrument will also have impacts for UT's teaching mission as it will be used to train a diverse pool of post-doctoral, graduate, and undergraduate researchers. At the undergraduate level, introduction to meritorious research in the emerging fields of metabolomics and biological mass spectrometry will not only be accomplished through independent research courses but also through summer undergraduate programs and classroom exercises. The instrument will be made available to enhance two NSF Research Experience for Undergraduate (REU) programs in the departments of Microbiology and Chemistry at UT Knoxville; and the PI and Co- PIs are also working to develop a new co-listed Nutrition and Chemistry course that will utilize the LC-Q Exactive. At the graduate level, the instrument will be made available for research, and users will receive training on all aspects of experimental design and execution. Further, the LC-Q Exactive will be made available to graduate courses given by the Chemistry, Nutrition, and Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology departments to enhance instruction in these classes. The PI and Co-PIs will make these resources available to help broaden participation in the STEM disciplines and will collaborate with Mr. Travis Griffin and the NSF Funded Tennessee Louis Stokes Association for Minority Participation (TLSAMP) program to identify undergraduate student participants from underrepresented groups and with Dr. Laurie Richardson at Florida International University (~75% of students from this institution are from underrepresented groups.) to engage both undergraduate and graduate students. Systems Biology technologies are important drivers for biological investigation and discovery,and these tools fall into three broad categories: genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics. The systems biology hierarchy aims to measure genes and RNA transcripts, protein content, and metabolic activity, respectively. While genomics and proteomics platforms are well established, metabolomics and (and to some extent lipidomics) platform development is still in its infancy. Significant infrastructure for systems biology is needed at UT to ensure that approaches which integrate large scale measures of transcripts, proteins and metabolites to develop holistic models of cellular, tissue and organismal function are available to the University community and others in the region. The LC-Q Exactive system will allow the development of novel techniques for discovery metabolomics and lipidomics and will provide the BSMMSC with basic targeted proteomics capabilities that will bolster available resources for bioanalytical science and advance capabilities in the region. A number of researchers within or near the UT Knoxville campus will benefit from these capabilities to measure metabolites, lipids, and proteins that can be applied to the study of all kingdoms of life. This instrument will enable research in a broad range of scientific fields ranging including, but not limited to, marine environmental science, soil microbiology, eukaryotic and prokaryotic biochemistry, computer science, and analytical chemistry.