Intact Mass
Can you measure the mass of my protein?
14/05/15 09:41 Filed in: Services
In short, probably yes!
We have set up a semiautomated system for the mass measurement of intact proteins, coupled to a very high quality instrument (Synapt G2si). This system will measure the mass of a protein to about 1Da in 10,000Da, and requires only microgram quantities of protein. The mass is measured by electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry and thus, the protein molecule acquires a large and variable number of charges (protons). Each protein thus creates a multiply-charged envelope of ions that need to be deconvoluted by proprietary software using maximum entropy algorithms. The result is a true mass spectrum that can reveal the mass of the analyte protein and also, the mass of associated contaminants and possibly, fragments or modifications.
We have set up a semiautomated system for the mass measurement of intact proteins, coupled to a very high quality instrument (Synapt G2si). This system will measure the mass of a protein to about 1Da in 10,000Da, and requires only microgram quantities of protein. The mass is measured by electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry and thus, the protein molecule acquires a large and variable number of charges (protons). Each protein thus creates a multiply-charged envelope of ions that need to be deconvoluted by proprietary software using maximum entropy algorithms. The result is a true mass spectrum that can reveal the mass of the analyte protein and also, the mass of associated contaminants and possibly, fragments or modifications.