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Scott A. McLuckey

September 26, 2002

Gas-phase Ion Physics and Chemistry with Roles in Molecular Biology: Dissociation and Charge Transfer Reactions in Electrodynamic Ion Traps

Scott A. McLuckey

Department of Chemistry
Purdue University

Collaborators:

Gavin Reid, Jason Hogan, Min He, Kelly Newton, Paul Chrisman, Sharon Pitteri, Mitch Wells, Chris Doerge, Jim Zimmerman, Bob Santini, Hao Shang, Gil Lee, Peng Pan, Dawn Watson, Jin Wu, Ethan Badman, Jim Stephenson, Ravi Amunugama, Harsha Gunawardena

Major advances in molecular biology are currently being made as a result of genome sequencing programs. The genome of an organism, however, is static. Understanding cellular processes requires the study, inter alia, of the protein complement (i.e, the proteome) of the organism. The proteome is both highly complex and dynamic. Hence, the analysis of complex protein mixtures is among the major measurement challenges of the day. The identification and characterization of proteins present in complex mixtures requires highly sensitive, highly specific, and fast methodologies. We are developing approaches to the analysis of complex protein mixtures that rely on the conversion of proteins to gas-phase ions. Protein identification and characterization is based upon reactions the ions undergo in the gas-phase with subsequent analysis by mass spectrometry. The relative high rates at which gas-phase reactions proceed along with the well-known strengths of mass spectrometry allow for sensitive, specific, and relatively fast analyses of protein mixtures. Recent developments have enabled the concentration, purification, and dissociation of protein ions in the gas-phase thereby providing novel capabilities for rapid protein identification/characterization. The overall approach relies on the physics of ion motion in electrodynamic quadrupolar fields and the unimolecular and ion/ion proton transfer reactions that the ions undergo while stored in an electrodynamic ion trap. A summary of progress will be given with emphasis on the ion physics and chemistry that underlie the overall approach being explored.