The University of Colorado Medical Schools Mass Spectrometry Facility is requesting funds for the purchase of a quadrupole high?field orbitrap mass spectrometer and liquid chromatography system to support the research of NIH funded investigators. Research projects and preliminary data from eleven major users with over 20 active NIH funded grants cover analytical needs to advance numerous basic science,translationalandclinicalresearchprojects.Theseprojectscoveranumberofbiomedicalresearch areas including cancer (development, progression and therapy), pulmonary hypertension, transfusion medicine, and basic biomedical science. Current instrumentation is not meeting the needs of the investigatorsduetoinadequateinstrumenttimeavailableandtheneedforimprovedcapabilities.The requestedinstrumentwillprovidehighmassaccuracy,highsensitivityandrapidscanratesforthedetailed characterization of small molecule metabolites and protein digests. This information will be used to performquantitativeandfluxanalysisformetabolicpathwaysinvolvedindisease,aswellasfordiscovery modemetabolomicspurposes.Likewise,quantitativeandqualitativeproteinanalyseswillcontributeto thediscoveryandvalidationofproteinalterations,signalingpathwaysandprotein?proteininteractions. Additional investigators working on important biomedical questions will be able to gain access to the proposedinstrumentationthroughtheMassSpectrometryFacility.Havingthesystemlocatedinashared resource that houses the Proteomics & Metabolomics Cores will facilitate further collaboration and optimal usage. The Facility receives strong institutional support through expert oversight and financial commitment to ensure long?term utilization of instrumentation. The proposed mass spectrometer will enableteamscienceaimedatachievingthegoalsofnumerousNIHfundedinvestigators.
The proposed mass spectrometer will provide multiple NIH funded investigators with the analytical capabilities to answer challenging questions aimed at the improvement of human health. The instrumentation used to study metabolites and proteins in biomedical samples have undergone a revolutionary leap in performance. These advancements will facilitate new discoveries to improve our understandingofdiseaseatthemolecularlevel.
