Dr Roz Jenkins BSc (Hons), PhD

The CDSS/ITM mass spectrometry facility is equipped with advanced instrumentation, facilitating an integrated, parallel approach to the study of biology and chemistry. Four instruments are dedicated to the analysis of small molecules, with targeted analyses allowing for sensitive and specific absolute quantification of drugs and their metabolites, and of endogenous analytes. One of these instruments is GCLP certified.

A further four instruments are dedicated to the analysis of proteins and peptides, with the capability for both discovery and targeted proteomics pipelines. We have expertise in label-dependent (iTRAQ, ICAT, SILAC) and label-free (SWATH, DIA) quantitative approaches that allow a global view of protein expression in, for instance, health and disease or following drug therapy. We also have instruments that are capable of quantifying peptides of interest at low attomole (femtogram) levels of sensitivity using targeted multiple reaction monitoring. These are particularly useful when good quality antibodies are not available.

A particular expertise of the facility is the characterisation of unconventional protein modifications. These may be as a result of direct drug or metabolite binding, but may also be a result of perturbed physiological processes leading to unexpected biochemical modification of protein. The integration of biology, chemistry and mass spectrometry provides a powerful approach in this area of research.

SWATH-MS is a relatively new approach to generating large quantities of reproducible protein expression data. The heterogeneity of human cancers and the unpredictability of drug interventions has made the classification and treatment of this diverse disease very difficult. By combining proteomics datasets acquired using SWATH-MS with whole genome sequencing for a large cohort of patients with clinically characterised disease, we hope to start addressing some of these difficulties.