This week’s Mass Spec News

Worth Your Time

Ion microprobe CryoNanoSIMS (cryo nanoscale secondary ion mass spectrometry) used to explore the role of ion transporter ‘Salt Overly Sensitive 1’ (SOS1) in protecting plant cells from excessive salt concentrations. Link

Researchers develop a new and time-efficient protocol – PEPPI-MS (passively eluting proteins from polyacrylamide gels as intact species for mass spectrometry) – to extract proteins separated by SDS-PAGE for top and middle-down proteomics. Link 

Using untargeted mass spectrometry and functional enrichment analysis, researchers analyze the cord blood proteome of 150 infants born between 25 and 42 weeks, observing a higher abundance of structural development and growth proteins in earlier gestations. Link

New numerical inversion method enhances spatial distribution accuracy of laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) by addressing events of aerosol diffusion and overlapping ablation. Link 

Researchers demonstrate the ability of MALDI-TOF MS and LC–MS/MS peptide mass fingerprints to differentiate between early and late recurrence of cholangiocarcinoma. Link 

Essential Reading

Tracking Liver Disease with Top-Down Proteomics

A new study has identified specific proteoform signatures in blood plasma that could support how we monitor and predict the development of liver cirrhosis. 

The team used top-down mass spectrometry (TDP) to analyze intact proteins from blood samples from 30 cirrhosis patients across three stages – compensated, compensated with portal hypertension, and decompensated. This approach identified over 2,800 proteoforms, with distinct changes in some proteins, including fibrinogen, apolipoprotein A-I, and haptoglobin, correlating with disease progression.

Lead author Neil L. Kelleher commented that “by identifying specific proteoform signatures linked to disease progression, we move closer to personalized medicine for liver cirrhosis patients,” in a press release.

Read the full story here!

Musings from The Power List: Michal Holčapek

Power Lister Michal Holčapek reveals how lipidomics and AI-driven data analysis could pave the way for early cancer detection and personalized medicine, as well as what he sees as the most exciting trend in analytical science today:

“A lot of interest has been paid to ion mobility technology, where the resolution provided by leading vendors increased quite significantly, but I still see some limitations in terms of the combination of sensitivity, ion mobility resolution, and the possibility to analyze a broad range of analytes. The cutting-edge configurations of high-resolution tandem mass analyzers offer the ultimate analytical power, which would have been a dream one decade ago.”

Find out more!

(Mass) Spectacular and Strange

Nature’s Nivea

Do bacteria wear sunscreen? Can a plant get sunburnt? Two questions I hadn't given much thought to – until I came across this study from the University of Helsinki concerning mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs). It turns out, the answer to both is, “sort of.” 

Just like in humans, excessive exposure to UV radiation can cause significant damage to plant and bacteria DNA, impairing photosynthesis. MAAs are able to absorb and convert UV light into heat without producing adverse photoproducts.  In a two year sampling campaign along the coast of the Baltic Sea, a research team confirmed the presence of MAAs in scums of cyanobacteria using a combination of bioinformatics, microbial genetics and high-resolution liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS).

The team suggest that these cyanobacteria scums “could be viewed as potential natural reservoirs of MAAs which could be harnessed for future biotechnological applications,” and that future research should focus on unlocking the commercial potential of MAAs to address shortcomings of current commercial sunscreens.