Maine Medical Center has long been a leader in innovative healthcare, and has a strong tradition of clinical scholarly activity. Our investigator-initiated, extramurally funded biomedical research capacity has largely been developed in the past 15 years, due to a combination of deliberate and strategic institutional investments and invaluable support provided by the NIH Institutional Development Award (IDeA) program. In 1995, Maine Medical Center essentially did not have NIH-funded research programs. However, we had early success in attracting funding through the Center for Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) program, with programs in Angiogenesis/Vascular Biology, Stem Cell and Progenitor Cell Biology, and a current COBRE program in Metabolic Networks. These COBRE programs have built a rigorous basic science focus at our center, with current strategic growth in translational and clinical research. This was recently bolstered by our IDeA-funded Northern New England Clinical and Translational Research Center. An integral component of our research programs are scientific core facilities. For the past 18 years, we have been growing our mass spectrometry facility, and currently have a highly functioning resource that focuses on analytical methods for protein and lipid analysis. Our goals are to provide new approaches that expand protein identification capabilities, provide isotope-free quantitative protein analysis, enable broad unbiased lipid profiling of cells and tissues, enable targeted lipid quantification, and improve statistical methods for data interpretation. Our existing system utilizes a Sciex TripleTOF 5600 mass spectrometer, which is in constant use and is unable to meet the growing demands for both proteomic and lipidomic analyses. To ensure completion of NIH-funded research, to expand our analytic capabilities, and to accelerate the pace of research, this proposal seeks funds to purchase a Sciex TripleTOF 6600+ system mass spectrometer and dedicated in-line EKSPERT nanoLC 425 liquid chromatographic system and associated gas generator. This instrument would both upgrade and expand upon the current TripleTOF 5600 as our chief ?discovery? platform, driving innovative new areas of study. Specific features that are required for our ongoing proteomics research projects that are embodied in the Sciex TripleTOF 6600+ include: a) the OptiFlow TurboV source, b) the OptiFlow interface, c) ultra-fast TripleTOF scan speeds, and d) advanced SWATH acquisition workflows. The TripleTOF 6600+ offers advanced ?next generation? workflows that are not available with the TripleTOF 5600, including support for high-speed high- window density scanning SWATH. We expect that the purchase of the TripleTOF 6600+ will ensure the ongoing productive functioning of our facility and will produce data of the highest achievable rigor and quality, with speed of acquisition and mass resolution that exceeds current capabilities, and will support a wide range of biomedical studies.
Research to understand complex human diseases has moved towards study of integrated global networks rather than single pathways. We propose to upgrade our equipment and technologies to enhance proteomics and lipidomics studies, to understand complex protein and lipid pathways that contribute to disease processes, which will ultimately advance our understanding of many diseases, such as heart disease, cancer, and brain disorders.
