A triple-stage quadrupole liquid chromatography mass spectrometry system (LC/MS/MS) TSQ model Ultra AM from ThermoElectron Corporation is requested for shared use in the Analytical Laboratory Shared Resource (ALSR), a core facility of the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii/University of Hawaii since 1990. Usage is exclusively by projects engaged in biomedical research with the overwhelming majority of these projects (85%) being funded by NIH. With the acquisition of the requested LC/MS/MS system the ALSR will be in the unique position to operate the first LC/MS/MS system in Hawaii. The usage of the requested equipment by 13 currently funded and 6 pending NIH projects that span very diverse fields including natural products chemistry, biochemistry, animal research, epidemiology, and clinical sciences, but with substantial overlapping study themes, will greatly foster a collaborative multidisciplinary environment. The LC/MS workload will soon exceed the ALSR's current capacities which cannot be improved by additional technician time or method adjustment of available instrumentation. The acquisition of the requested LC/MS/MS system will solve this problem and greatly advance the capabilities of the ALSR by increasing sensitivity, shortening turn-around-times, expanding vastly the number of measurable analytes, and by obtaining the state-of-the art instrument for quantitation of biomolecules, the major focus of the services in the ALSR. The instrumentation requested is best suited for the needs in the ALSR considering acquisition cost, available knowledge with hardware and software, and particularly, special instrument features (greatest resolution, High Selectivity Reaction Monitoring mode, Accurate Mass option, unique Ion Max source, most robust ion source, widest dynamic range, APCI/APPI combinatorial ionization mode). Facility personnel hours will be adjusted as needed. Due to the prohibitively expensive costs for a single user and due to the needs of an experienced operator dedicated to the instrument the operation and administration of the requested device in a central shared resource as established in the ALSR is ideal. Since 1999, the ALSR has operated one ion trap based liquid chromatography mass spectrometry system (LCQ Surveyor- Advantage), which is from the same manufacturer (ThermoElectron Corporation, formerly Thermo Finnigan) and uses the identical software (Xcalibur) as the requested LC/MS/MS instrument. Ms. Custer, the operator of the LCQ since its acquisition in 1999, has extensive experience in the operation, maintenance, troubleshooting, and repair of LC/MS equipment. This most valuable expertise, in combination with initial tests of the requested instrument by Ms. Custer in ThermoElectron's demonstration laboratory, will ensure a smooth transition into routine operations of the requested LC/MS/MS system. Even in the presence of the requested new instrument, the current LCQ system will continue to be used at its full capacity for proteomics, identification of known and unknown (natural) products, and for samples with relative high concentrations or a limited number of requested analytes. All of these tasks can reliably be performed and are, in part, even major strengths of an ion trap based LC/MS system. The acquisition of the LC/MS/MS instrument would, therefore, not only provide essential support to many interrelated NIH projects and improve the competitiveness of its users, but it would ideally complement the capabilities of the ALSR, support its outstanding quality, and ultimately improve the entire research infrastructure in Hawaii.
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