This proposal requests funds to purchase a mass spectrometer to augment the capacity and capability of the Mass Spectrometry Facility at The Yale School of Medicine. The specific instrument for which funds are requested is the QUATTRO model triple quadrupole (actually a QHQ instrument) manufactured by VG MassLab, Manchester, England. The QUATTRO has two unique features: a) photomultiplier detectors after the first and third mass analyzers and b) the employment of a hexapole rather than an RF only quadrupole as the collision cell. These two features give the instrument rapid interconvertability between MS and MS/MS operations. Accessories requested with this instrument are a cesium ion source(SIMS), a continuous flow FIB probe, and an electrospray ion source. The electrospray ion source is manufactured by Analytica Inc. The QUATTRO and requested accessories will be used to support a broad range. of research programs. In support of several projects, the instrument will be used to characterize peptides and proteins in terms of their molecular weight, their amino acid sequence and the extent and identification of postranslational modifications. This instrumentation will also be used to help characterize the structures of glycosphingolipids and gangliosides in murine peritoneal macrophages. It will also be employed to quantitate steroidal fatty acid esters both in terms of total steroid esters and individual fatty acids, to support metabolic studies of chemotherapeutic agents undergoing clinical trials, and to support a broad range of HPLC investigations. Because the Mass Spectrometry Facility has a wide spectrum of users both within and outside Yale this instrumentation will be available to support the research of a large number of researchers supported by the NIH.
