Standard addition workflow – for quantification and calculating background levels by April Quinn-Paquet | 0 CommentsThe method of standard addition is a quantitative analysis approach used in situations where matrix effects from complex samples contributes to the analytical signal. This makes it impossible to compare the analytical signal between sample and standard using a...
How do I define the experimental design (the metadata) for my SWATH acquisition study within the OneOmics suite? What are the requirement for replicates? by Christie Hunter | 0 CommentsIn quantitative Omics research, the goal is to understand which analytes (protein or metabolite) are perturbed between experimental conditions; therefore we carefully design our studies to explore these questions. The algorithms used within the Assembler application...
Quickly compare identification results from ProteinPilot software by Christie Hunter | 0 CommentsWhen a ProteinPilot Software search is complete, a ProteinPilot report is generated that contains all the false discovery rate (FDR) analysis information. More information on using the large and small ProteinPilot reports can be found here When doing method...
The risky business of aflatoxins in milk by Robert Di Lorenzo | 0 CommentsIf you’re in the dairy or food testing business, you know the threat aflatoxins pose. Aflatoxins are a type of mycotoxin produced by Aspergillus parasiticus, aspergillus flavus , and rarely aspergillus nomius.1 These are likely the most extensively researched group of mycotoxins because of their adverse health effects.2 What’s more, they are widely found in a variety of crops, namely maize, tree nuts, and spices. Believed to be primarily caused by rising temperatures and humidity, these naturally occurring fungi grow on crops in the field, or during storage of feed and raw materials, where they can potentially produce toxins that enter the food chain.
Pharma perspectives: The influence of LC-MS innovation on drug development outsourcing by Kean Woodmansey | Blogs, Pharma, ZenoTOF 7600 systemIt is no secret that (bio)pharmaceutical research and development is complex, both scientific and regulatory processes. Working for a contract research organization and more recently for SCIEX has provided an interesting perspective on trends the market experiences that affect many of us.
Overcoming uncertainty in your PFAS analysis by Karl Oetjen | Blogs, Environmental / IndustrialJust like gum on the bottom of a shoe, the existence of per- and poly-fluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) in our environment is a sticky one. If you’re in the field of environmental testing, then you’re all too familiar with the threat these substances have on public health. While we have learned a lot about them over the years, there is still much more to understand. With the right detection methods, we can gather the information we need to empower us to make informed decisions on reducing the risks they impose.
Detecting low levels of drugs and their metabolites in hair and nail samples using LC-MS/MS by SCIEX Community | Blogs, Forensic, ToxicologyYou probably have heard of testing blood and urine samples for the presence of drugs and their metabolites. But do you know about the benefits of hair and nail analysis? In a recent webinar, Tina Binz, Deputy Head of the Center for Forensic Hair Analysis, University of Zurich, discussed the benefits of developing comprehensive and sensitive LC-MS/MS for the detection of low-level drugs and metabolites in keratinized matrices.
An overview: LC-MS analysis of targeted protein degraders and their metabolites by Kirsten Craven | Blogs, Pharma, ZenoTOF 7600 systemTargeted protein degraders (TPD) are a relatively new therapeutic modality that opens the potential to target disease-causing proteins. These disease-causing proteins have been highly challenging for traditional small-molecule therapeutics to treat, making TPDs an exciting new therapeutic modality.
Guide decisions during cell line development with more information at the intact level by Roxana McCloskey | Biopharma, Blogs, Intabio ZT system, ZenoTOF 7600 systemMonitoring product quality attributes (PQAs) throughout monoclonal antibody (mAb) development is vital to ensuring drug safety and efficacy. By adopting orthogonal analytical techniques and integrating new technologies that have the potential to provide more information, it is possible to improve product quality and manufacturing efficiency and make more informed decisions.
Maximize NPS analysis with accurate mass spectrometry by Pierre Negri | Blogs, Forensic, SCIEX OS software, Toxicology, ZenoTOF 7600 systemLC-MS/MS is a powerful analytical tool in forensic toxicology testing that can support a variety of testing regimes such as screening, confirmation and quantitative workflows. More specifically, analysis of NPS using LC-MS/MS provides many advantages, including the ability to reliably detect new drugs and their metabolites from a variety of biological matrices.
Unlock the benefits of nominal mass spectrometry for NPS analysis by Pierre Negri | Blogs, Clinical, Forensic, QTRAP / Triple Quad, ToxicologyThe development of analytical methods for the detection and quantitation of drugs and metabolites in a range of biological matrices is a challenging process. Forensic toxicology labs need a reproducible and reliable methodology to ensure the robustness of the data and the quality of the results. They also need robust and sensitive instrumentation that can detect drugs at trace levels with high specificity, especially when it comes to novel psychoactive substances (NPS), which can be difficult to monitor and control.
What has the Echo® MS system done for the pharma industry? (And don’t just take our word for it!) by Kirsten Craven | Blogs, Discovery, Echo® MS+ system, PharmaSCIEX was very proud to have an illustration of the Acoustic Ejection Mass Spectrometry (AEMS) technology that powers the Echo® MS system on the front cover of the Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry in January 2023. The associated article—Ultrahigh-Throughput Intact Protein Analysis with Acoustic Ejection Mass Spectrometry—was co-authored by scientists from SCIEX and Merck.
Short-chain PFAS compounds are on the rise- Craig’s PFAS Vodcast Cora Young by Craig Butt | Blogs, Environmental / IndustrialRead time: 2 minutes Short-chain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are increasing in the Canadian Arctic environment, with the most rapid increases occurring post-2000, according to a recent study in Geophysical Research Letters (April 2020). For example,...
Identifying the unknown PFAS profile in firefighting foams/AFFF by Craig Butt | Blogs, Environmental / IndustrialAccording to a recent study from Harvard University, the US EPA, and NIEHS, traditional targeted analysis techniques poorly characterize the PFAS composition of contemporary PFAS-based firefighting foams, know as aqueous film-forming foams (AFFF). Using the EPA 533 PFAS drinking water method for the analyte list, the researchers found that targeted mass spectrometry methods accounted for <1% of organic fluorine content. This is important because it demonstrates that targeted analysis methods miss nearly all the PFAS compounds in modern AFFF mixtures, thus underestimating the risk to human health and the environment.
5 Tips for Calibrating a QTOF Mass Spectrometer by SCIEX Community | Blogs, Life Science Research, Proteomics, TechnologyDo you have questions about your mass spec? How about a workflow? Our community members are involved in active discussions and receive expert answers from customers like you, SCIEX scientists, and support specialists every week. One recent topic concerned the automatic calibration on TripleTOF® systems as answered by Dr. Christie Hunter whose focus is developing and testing innovative MS workflows for omics research through working collaboratively with the instrument, chemistry, and software research groups.
Why Microflow HILIC Chromatography for Targeted Metabolomics Applications? by SCIEX Community | Blogs, Life Science Research, MetabolomicsI recently had the opportunity to catch up with Baljit Ubhi to discuss the top questions you’re asking in regards to using Microflow HILIIC Chromatography for Targeted Metabolomics. Here’s what Bal said:
Discover The Benefits of Knowledge Base Articles by SCIEX Community | Blogs, TechnologyDid you know you can access Knowledge Base Articles for trending user questions compiled and answered by SCIEX support experts? Doing so may help to reduce your support calls, not to mention downtime. Instead of waiting for a problem to occur, you can stay on top of it, and be a part of the solution. To give you an idea of trending articles, consider the how this past month saw questions and answers including:
How Easy Is It to Relocate a Mass Spectrometer? by SCIEX Community | Blogs, TechnologyWhen you’re in the process of moving your lab, across the corridor or to another country, there’s a lot to think about. Adding to the stress, there’s not always a lot of time to plan, or budget allocated for the process, especially in the case of unexpected urgent maintenance work.
SWATH Acquisition – Master of All Trades by SCIEX Community | Blogs, TechnologySWATH® Acquisition is an innovative strategy for acquiring data on a TripleTOF® mass spectrometer. In a previous blog, we learned how SWATH works. Now let’s learn what it can do for different applications:
Data Independent Acquisition Mass Spectrometry with the Power of SWATH by SCIEX Community | Blogs, Life Science Research, Metabolomics, ProteomicsThere are many different methods in use today to acquire data on a mass spectrometer, but few have generated as much buzz in recent years as SWATH technology. First reported 5 years ago by Ruedi Aebersold and his group1, SWATH® Acquisition on a TripleTOF® instrument has rapidly become one of the premier acquisition strategies for identification and quantitation of complex samples. But what exactly is SWATH and why is it so powerful? In order to answer these questions, let’s first take a step back and look at the larger picture.
Vice President Biden Announces Agreement Naming Children’s Medical Research Institute’s ProCan Lab to the ‘Cancer Moonshot’ Initiative by SCIEX Community | Blogs, Life Science Research, ProteomicsA key goal of the ‘Cancer Moonshot’ initiative is the advancement of precision medicine, with the goal of making more targeted therapies available to more cancer patients. And researchers believe that the time is right, with the new technological innovations, the new insight into the biology of cancer and big improvements in the handling of ‘big data.’
Stoller Biomarker Discovery Centre, Addressing Some of the Biggest Issues in Medicine by SCIEX Community | Blogs, Life Science Research, ProteomicsThe Stoller Biomarker Discovery Center, developed in partnership with SCIEX, was created to develop new omics technologies for biomarker research to understand the root cause of diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, and autoimmune diseases. We initially announced our collaboration with the University of Manchester back in October 2015.
The History of Isotopic Labels for Quantitative Proteomics by Subhasish.Purkayastha@sciex.com | Blogs, Life Science Research, ProteomicsProteomics has become a vital tool for biological scientists performing research on the healthy and diseased states of living things. It involves the large scale and systematic analysis of all proteins within a given cell, tissue, or organism. Because proteins are regulated by many different internal and external stimuli, the proteome is dynamic and quantities of proteins can change from one state to the next. Therefore, in order to be of the highest utility, proteomics experiments need to both identify and quantify proteins so that comparative studies can be done, such as between healthy cells and tumor cells, or the comparison of different treatment regimens.
Taking care of your mass spectrometer—Onsite troubleshooting and maintenance training for today’s lab by SCIEX Community | Blogs, TechnologyRecently, we asked customers to tell us about their biggest challenges so we could customize training programs to meet the needs of today’s growing lab. Without hesitation, most of you said uptime and employee training are your most critical needs. As a result, our...
The Promise of Precision Medicine by SCIEX Community | Blogs, Life Science Research, ProteomicsHere is the latest update on the Worldwide Efforts to Accelerate Precision Medicine The NIH recently issued a press release in early July announcing $55 million in awards. According to the release, the $55 million award in the fiscal year 2016 will go towards building the foundational partnerships and infrastructure needed to launch the Cohort Program of President Obama’s Precision Medicine Initiative (PMI). The PMI Cohort Program is a landmark longitudinal research effort that aims to engage 1 million or more U.S. participants to improve the ability to prevent and treat disease based on individual differences in lifestyle, environment, and genetics.
Why Study Lipids? by Baljit Ubhi | Blogs, Life Science Research, LipidomicsI had an opportunity to follow up with Steven M Watkins, Ph.D. to talk about the importance of studying lipids in disease. Steve has been working in the lipids field for over 20 years and is one of the foremost experts in lipid biology. Steve founded Lipomics in 2000, an early metabolomics company focused on quantitative lipidomics and had followed that company through a series of changes that led to its involvement in the clinical diagnostic development and global metabolomics. Steve authored over 70 peer-reviewed publications including several book chapters on lipids and lipid metabolism. His presentations on this topic are fascinating and very informative, so I wanted to capture some of his thinking here!
Improved complex sample processing for higher quality of results, reproducibility and depth of proteomic analysis by ken.hamill@sciex.com | Blogs, Life Science Research, ProteomicsSCIEX partners to improve depth of proteome coverage SCIEX and Pressure BioSciences address a major challenge for researchers performing complex sample preparation by marketing a complete solution to increase the depth, breadth, and reproducibility of protein extraction, digestion, and quantitation in all tissue types, especially challenging samples like tumors.
Industrialize Your Quantitative Proteomics Using a More Simplified Sample Prep by Christie Hunter | Blogsin part 1 and part 2 of this blog series we discussed how you can increase your efficiency for high throughput quantitative proteomics by industrializing your sample analysis and data processing. Microflow SWATH® Acquisition on your TripleTOF® system coupled with OneOmics™ data analysis tools allow you to run samples faster, collect data faster, and process your data files faster. It all adds up to getting more meaningful biological information in a shorter amount of time.
Industrialize Your Quantitative Proteomics with the OneOmics Project by Christie Hunter | Blogs, Life Science Research, ProteomicsFor many labs, the days are long gone when it was acceptable to run only a few samples a week for your quantitative proteomics projects. The pressure for faster turn-around times, to support larger cohort studies, to sustain multiple research directions, and to transition from a purely unbiased discovery mode to verifying something truly unique and interesting, all demand a faster pace. Many labs are now being asked to analyze a hundred samples a week or more. In part 1 of this blog series, we saw how moving to a microflow SWATH workflow can dramatically increase your throughput with little compromise on overall results. In this part, we’ll address what to do with all of this data because it’s just no good if all we’ve done is move the bottleneck downstream.
Taking on Precision Medicine with Industrialized Proteomics by Neil Walsh | Blogs, Life Science Research, OneOmics, ProteomicsWhat if we could deliver the right treatment at the right time, to the right person to better, more effectively treat complex disease? This is the promise of precision medicine, to be able to approach complex disease treatment and prevention by taking into account individual variability in genes, environment, and lifestyle for each person.
Using Mass Spectrometry for Down Syndrome Metabolomic Research by SCIEX Community | Blogs, Life Science Research, MetabolomicsLast week we launched a really interesting research project with Jeff Miller, Senior SCIEX Scientist, using a SCIEX QTRAP® 6500 mass spectrometer. Our plan was to test whether acetaminophen is metabolized differently in people with Down Syndrome (our younger brother William has Down Syndrome).