Mass spectrometry capabilities boosted by new high-throughput instrument

Key points:

• Funding from the BBSRC has supported the purchase of a high-throughput mass spectrometer in the Institute’s Mass Spectrometry facility.
• An Orbitrap Astral mass spectrometer has been installed and following extensive testing and optimisation is now in full operation.  
• The acquisition of the new instrument aligns with the capability needed to deliver research united under the Institute’s cross-programme collaborative theme: proteostasis across the life course.
• This expansion of the facility’s analytical capability opens up the expertise of the facility to commercial bioscience companies, supporting wider bioscience research and advancement towards therapeutics to improve health.

The Institute’s Mass Spectrometry facility has incorporated a Thermo Orbitrap Astral mass spectrometer following funding from BBSRC. The facility is the first to acquire this instrument in the Cambridge area and the facility is one of only a small number that utilises the spectrometer in the UK.

Dr Danielle Hoyle, Head of Research Operations, said: “The Institute’s facilities develop hand-in-hand with the Institute’s science. In our discovery research we’re always looking to push the boundaries of what’s possible and this means that our facilities need to perform at the cutting edge. We’re hugely grateful for investment by the BBSRC to make sure that excellent science is enabled by the best capabilities.”

Central to the Institute’s fundamental biological research and mission to support lifelong health, mass spectrometry allows detection, identification, characterisation and measurement of a range of different biomolecules, including proteins, DNA, RNA and metabolites. Research teams across the Institute use mass spectrometry to explore and understand biological processes, such as protein quality control and degradation processes, cell metabolism, and post translational modification of proteins.

The new acquisition reflects the Institute’s growing focus on proteostasis – the balance of protein production, maintenance and disposal – which spans the Institute’s three BBSRC-funded strategic research programmes. The management of proteins becomes dysregulated with age and in disease, such as illustrated by protein aggregation in neurodegenerative diseases. Institute researchers are using mass spectrometry to understand:

• the breakdown in proteostasis across the life course;
• how cellular recycling pathways can be boosted to improve proteostasis;
• the impact of diet on gene regulation through epigenetic mechanisms;
• how our immune systems respond to infection and how this is affected by age;
• the development and maintenance of immune memory;
• the molecular mechanisms driving tissue inflammation.

By virtue of its processing speed and high sensitivity the Orbitrap Astral mass spectrometer will become the main workhorse of the facility, vastly expanding the Institute’s proteomic analysis capability and supporting projects across the Institute’s three strategic research programmes of epigenetics, immunology and signalling. In addition, the instrument enables large-scale analyses that could not previously be supported due to the time this would take on older, slower machines.

Dr David Oxley, Head of the Mass Spectrometry facility, said: “This investment will ensure that the Institute continues to provide the high-quality cutting-edge infrastructure necessary to support world-class research. The Astral provides an essential boost to our analytical capability to allow us to fully realise the Institute’s research goals over the next three years.”

The Mass Spectrometry facility is one of eight cutting-edge facilities where facility scientists work with research teams to achieve the best science. Several of the Institute’s facilities work with commercial companies on the Babraham Research Campus as well as further afield.