GEN-MKT-18-7897-A
Aug 6, 2019 | Blogs, Technology | 0 comments
In 1989, the first commercial, dedicated Atmospheric Pressure Ionisation (API) tandem quadrupole mass spectrometry system was launched at the Pittsburgh Conference (PittCon) in Atlanta, Georgia (GA), USA. The API III, as it was called, was introduced to the analytical chemistry market to enable scientists to do pioneering work by quantifying molecules in liquid-phase samples. Previously, this could only be done by introducing samples to a mass spectrometer while they were in the gas phase. Looking back, the introduction of the API III undoubtedly revolutionized the field of life science research. It propelled the development and use of liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) into the main scientific arena. As Tom Covey, Principal Research Scientist at SCIEX, stated in the first episode of the Generation Quant series, “It cracked the liquid phase/gas phase dilemma.”
Revisiting the 30-year history is particularly fitting, as ASMS 2019 took place in Atlanta, GA this year, where the API III was first launched to become the benchmark for LC-MS performance. With the IonSpray™ source, the API III revolutionized the way companies performed molecular analysis, influencing significant progress in areas from pharmaceutical drug development to food safety testing.
“[The API IIIs] were incredibly sensitive. They solved problems that had existed for decades – and that was how to measure analytes in an LC flow reproducibly and with high sensitivities and single-to-noise ratios that just were not possible before,” said Jim Hager, Principal Research Scientist at SCIEX.
“Suddenly you had this new piece of software and hardware. But it was the speed of that and that’s why people adopted it,” said Liz Thomas, Co-Founder, and CEO of Alderley Analytical. “When you look at the bigger picture of that, it means they were making faster decisions, and it was helping them move the whole industry on.”
Now, 30 years later, SCIEX is still innovating and pushing the boundaries of quantification to inform customers’ critical decisions and truly make “The Power of Precision” a reality.
To learn more about the history of the API development through to today’s innovations, visit the SCIEX Generation Quant website where you can view the video series in its entirety and learn more about how mass spectrometry development touches the lives of the human population in so many ways that might not be obvious. I call it “The most widely used analytical chemistry technology that no one knows about!”
As for SCIEX innovation, the journey continues, so stay tuned for more. Register your interest to find out when new developments to move your science forward are just around the corner.
Finding the right information shouldn’t slow you down. Whether you’re troubleshooting your mass spec, learning something new, or optimizing performance, access to the right resources at the right moment makes all the difference.
As an analytical strategy, middle-down mass spectrometry (MS) workflows characterize biotherapeutic proteins by analyzing large, digested protein fragments or defined subunits, rather than fully intact proteins (top-down) or digested peptides (bottom-up). A middle-down strategy combines the strengths of top-down and bottom-up approaches by delivering high sequence coverage and structural specificity while maintaining relatively simple sample preparation. In practice, middle-down analysis enables accurate mass measurement, rapid sequence confirmation, and localization of key post-translational modifications (PTMs) on protein subunits that are directly relevant to product quality.
In biopharmaceutical development, sequence variants (SV) are considered an inherent risk of producing complex proteins in living systems. Sequence variants are unintended changes to the amino acid sequence of a biotherapeutic and can be caused by errors in transcription or translation in the host cell, or cell culture and process conditions. Detailed analysis of SVs is important in process and product development to ensure the drug’s safety and efficacy. Even low‑level sequence variants can have significant implications for product quality, safety, and efficacy, making their accurate detection and characterization a critical requirement across development, process optimization, and regulatory submission.
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