Project Grant S10OD036295

ACQUISITION OF AN ECLIPSE TRIBRID MASS SPECTOMETER SYSTEM TO ADVANCE PROTEOMICS RESEARCH IN RHODE ISLAND - PROJECT SUMMARY THE BROWN UNIVERSITY PROTEOMICS CORE FACILITY SEEKS TO ACQUIRE CUTTING-EDGE INSTRUMENTATION TO ADVANCE RESEARCH IN CANCER BIOLOGY, AGING, NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES, IMMUNOLOGY, AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES. SPECIFICALLY, WE PROPOSE TO ACQUIRE AN ECLIPSE TRIBRID MASS SPECTROMETER, VANQUISH NEO UHPLC, AND FAIMS PRO DUO INTERFACE THROUGH AN S10 HEI GRANT. THIS ACQUISITION WILL BENEFIT MAJOR AND MINOR USERS AT BROWN UNIVERSITY AND THE BROADER RESEARCH COMMUNITY IN RHODE ISLAND IN A STATE DESIGNATED BY THE NIH AS AN IDEA STATE IDENTIFIED AS NEEDING INCREASED RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE SUPPORT. THE PROPOSED INSTRUMENTS WILL SIGNIFICANTLY ENHANCE THE CAPABILITIES OF OUR PROTEOMICS CORE FACILITY, ENABLING ADVANCED, ACCURATE, AND PRECISE ANALYSIS OF PROTEINS AND PEPTIDES. THE ORBITRAP ECLIPSE TRIBRID MASS SPECTROMETER COMBINES HIGH-RESOLUTION MASS SPECTROMETRY WITH SENSITIVITY, SPEED, AND DYNAMIC RANGE. THIS INSTRUMENT WILL ENABLE THE IDENTIFICATION AND QUANTIFICATION OF PROTEINS, POST-TRANSLATIONAL MODIFICATIONS, AND PROTEIN-PROTEIN INTERACTIONS WITH UNPARALLELED PRECISION AND ACCURACY. THE VANQUISH NEO UHPLC IS A HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY SYSTEM THAT DELIVERS EXCEPTIONAL SEPARATION AND RESOLUTION. IT WILL ALLOW FOR EFFICIENT SAMPLE PREPARATION AND INCREASED THROUGHPUT FOR LARGE-SCALE PROTEOMIC EXPERIMENTS AT NANOLITER AMOUNTS. THE FAIMS PRO DUO INTERFACE PROVIDES ADDITIONAL SELECTIVITY AND SENSITIVITY IN PROTEIN AND PEPTIDE ANALYSIS. IT ENHANCES ION SEPARATION AND INCREASES THE DYNAMIC RANGE OF MASS SPECTROMETRY, ENABLING THE DETECTION OF LOW-ABUNDANCE PEPTIDE SPECIES WITH GREATER ACCURACY. IN SUPPORT OF THE NEWLY FORMED LEGORRETA CANCER CENTER AT BROWN, THESE INSTRUMENTS WILL BENEFIT RESEARCH IN CANCER BIOLOGY, WHERE THE ABILITY TO DETECT AND QUANTIFY SPECIFIC PROTEINS AND THEIR MODIFICATIONS IS CRITICAL FOR UNDERSTANDING DISEASE MECHANISMS AND DEVELOPING NEW THERAPIES. THE INSTRUMENTS WILL ALSO FACILITATE RESEARCH IN THE CENTER ON THE BIOLOGY OF AGING, AND THE CARNEY INSTITUTE FOR BRAIN SCIENCE, WHERE IDENTIFYING DISEASE-RELATED BIOMARKERS FROM PRECIOUS SAMPLES IS ESSENTIAL. IN IMMUNOLOGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES, THE INSTRUMENTS WILL ENABLE THE IDENTIFICATION AND QUANTIFICATION OF IMMUNE SYSTEM PROTEINS AND PARASITE OR PATHOGEN- DERIVED MOLECULES, AIDING IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF VACCINES AND THERAPIES. OVERALL, THE ACQUISITION OF THESE INSTRUMENTS WILL ENHANCE THE PROTEOMICS CORE FACILITY'S CAPABILITIES AND ENABLE CUTTING-EDGE RESEARCH IN MAJOR DISEASE AREAS. THE BENEFITS WILL EXTEND BEYOND BROWN UNIVERSITY TO THE BROADER RESEARCH COMMUNITY IN RHODE ISLAND, INCLUDING UNDERGRADUATE INSTITUTIONS. THIS PROPOSAL ALIGNS WITH THE NIH'S MISSION TO SUPPORT RESEARCH THAT ADVANCES OUR UNDERSTANDING OF DISEASE MECHANISMS AND IMPROVES HUMAN HEALTH.