Mass Spectrometry

Basics of Mass Spectometry (Proteomics)

Mass spectometry is an analytical technique which can measure the accurate mass and chemical composition of a sample.

How Mass Spectometry Works

Samples must be:

1. ionized, before a specific mass/charge range is
2. selected
3. detected

The resulting data is displayed in a mass spectrum with intensity versus mass/charge, as shown above.

 
Tandem Mass Spectrometry

In tandem mass spectrometry, samples are analyzed as shown below:

But then individual mass/charge is selected for further analysis:

The isolated mass/charge of interest is then:

The fragments can be combined to determine the sequence of the original mass/charge of interest.

If any of the amino acids are modified, tandem mass spectrometry can also pinpoint the modified residue.

Please see the software and equipment page for more detailed description of data acquisition and analysis.