The mass spectrometer requested will be used to facilitate the execution of the following NIH funded projects: 1) to establish the cyclic variations of androgenic and estrogenic hormones in squirrel monkey plasma throughout the year; 2) to elucidate the exact chemical mechanism for tetrahydrobiopterin cofactor participation in the amino acid hydroxylase reactions; 3) to measure plasma levels of catecholamines and metabolites in the plasma of squirrel monkeys with experimental Parkinson's disease before and during pharmacological intervention using synthetic tetrahydrobiopterin cofactors; 4) to determine the binding specificity of a purified lung phospholipid transfer protein for phospholipids with differing base substituents and different acyl groups attached to the glycerol; 5) to follow the intermediates in the synthesis of analogues of dihydrofolate, folic acid, and aminopterin to identify and quantitate the metabolites of these cancer chemotherapeutic agents; 6) to determine the frequency and significance of phosphate triesters in extensive enzymatic digests of DNA following experimental lesions produced in vivo; 7) to monitor the organic synthesis of rigis analogues of glutamic acid containing photosensitive groups designed to study glutamate receptors; 8) to determine the structure of drug adducts with nucleic acids after degradation to the tetra-nucleotides.
