Triple Quadrupole-Mass Spectrometer

• Subject Area: Basic Research in Biology and Medicine
• Term: Funded in 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 531056563

We are applying for a triple quadrupole-mass spectrometer of the latest generation. It is intended for use in the central "Lipidomics/Metabolomics Core Facility" of the "Cluster of Excellence: Cellular Stress Responses in Aging-Associated Diseases" (CECAD) at the University of Cologne and will be installed in a laboratory of the Facility in the CECAD Research Center. There, the Facility will use the spectrometer for ongoing and planned projects of its user groups at the University of Cologne, but also for projects of external academic research groups. In the long term, the new mass spectrometer will replace its 10-year-old predecessor model, which the Facility has used very successfully for targeted quantifications of lipids in biological samples. The recent expansion of the Facility's service analyses to include targeted quantification of polar and ionic metabolites has led to a strong increase in demand for small metabolite analyses in complex biological samples such as various model organisms, cells, tissues, body fluids, and isolated cell organelles. Compared to its predecessor, the requested mass spectrometer is characterized by its extremely high sensitivity not only in the positive but also in the negative ion mode. This is crucial for the detection of polar and ionic metabolites, which, in contrast to most lipid species, usually have to be measured in the negative ion mode and are present in biological samples in very low concentrations. The fast polarity switching capabilities of the requested spectrometer allows simultaneous detection of lipids and polar metabolites. In addition, the large linear dynamic range of the detector enables robust quantification of both, metabolites at low concentrations and very abundant compounds with a single sample injection. This is critical for high throughput quantifications of large numbers of metabolites in biological samples, where the amount of material is typically very limited. Overall, the requested mass spectrometer optimally fulfils the requirements for an instrument for the targeted quantification of small metabolites in complex biological samples and will enable the CECAD Lipidomics/Metabolomics Facility to meet the increasing demand for quantitative metabolomics analyses.

• DFG Programme: Major Research Instrumentation
• Major Instrumentation: Triple Quadrupol-Massenspektrometer
• Instrumentation Group: 1700 Massenspektrometer
• Applicant Institution: Universität zu Köln
• Leader: Dr. Susanne Brodesser