Applications
Transforming the potential of mass spectrometry
Advances in mass spectrometry (MS) technology over the last half a century have transformed the way scientists understand the structure and behaviour of molecules. However, the masses of many biomolecules and materials, such as protein complexes, intact viruses, and polymers, are too large for characterisation by traditional MS.
Through its ability to detect both the m/z and charge of single ions, CDMS technology measures the true mass of individual particles and opens the door to a variety of applications that were previously out of reach.
Viral vectors and viruses
Intact virus analysis
MS is an invaluable tool for examining the structure and function of viruses and has long been used to identify viral capsid proteins, detect mutations, and characterise post-translational modifications (PTMs). Intact virus analysis has been made possible in recent years by advances in CDMS technology, not only overcoming the previous particle size limit of ESI-MS but allowing the in-depth characterisation of viral glycoprotein heterogeneity.
These developments are driving vital steps forward in our understanding of SARS-CoV-2. CDMS allows researchers to measure the intact mass of the spike (S) protein and to capture the dynamic range of glycans present, with the goal of leading to the development of more targeted therapeutics.1
The creation of vaccines that use a viral vector for delivery is another field benefiting from the high resolving power of CDMS technology. Scientists can identify whether viral RNA/DNA has been successfully inserted into the vector capsids, by using the exact charge to identify less dense hollow shells from more compact structures.2
Materials
Polymer research
Synthetic polymers, used for a vast range of commercial and industrial applications, exist in a broad spectrum of shapes and molecular weights, making them difficult to characterise. Analytical techniques such as nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and infrared (IR) spectroscopy and, more recently, MS, are widely used in polymer research, but the development of increasingly large and complex polymeric materials confounds mass determination due to overlapping charge distributions.
CDMS provides a direct measurement of the mass distribution of large polymeric materials, and has been successfully used to determine the mass of poly(ethylene oxides) in the MDa mass range.3,4
Single particles
Atmospheric aerosol detection
Characterising airborne particles is vital for a number of applications, from pollution analysis to minimising respiratory hazards for astronauts. CDMS can be coupled with separation techniques that enable single particle analysis of atmospheric aerosols, and the resulting quantitative information could help inform regulations to control the quality of ambient air.
References
- Miller LM et al. Heterogeneity of Glycan Processing on Trimeric SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein Revealed by Charge Detection Mass Spectrometry. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2021, 143, 3959–3966.
- Keifer DZ et al. Acquiring Structural Information on Virus Particles with Charge Detection Mass Spectrometry. J. Am. Soc. Mass Spectrom. 2016, 27, 1028–1036.
- Doussineau T et al. Charging megadalton poly(ethylene oxide)s by electrospray ionization. A charge detection mass spectrometry study. Rapid Commun. Mass Spectrom. 2011, 25, 617–623.
- Antoine R. Weighing synthetic polymers of ultra-high molar mass and polymeric nanomaterials: What can we learn from charge detection mass spectrometry? Rapid Commun. Mass Spectrom. 2020, e8539.
Your application
Working with a high-mass, heterogeneous sample?
The application name alone does not decide whether CDMS is useful. Tell us what you are trying to measure, distinguish or compare and we can discuss whether CDMS adds useful information.