PROJECT SUMMARY
This application requests funds to acquire a trapped ion mobility time of flight (timsTOF) mass
spectrometer (MS) from Bruker with online PASEF (Parallel Accumulation Serial Fragmentation)
technology to be deployed at the Purdue Proteomics Facility. The application includes project
descriptions from seven major and seven minor users that will benefit from the access to this instrument.
The timsTOF Pro offers rapid, high-resolution separation of peptides and proteins based on structure (ion
conformation) and mass-to-charge (m/z) ratios. The unique feature of dual-TIMS funnel provides
enhanced ability to separate ions by differences in conformation, thus allowing separation of isobaric and
isomeric species, such as phosphopeptides and glycopeptides positional isomers, which are not easily
resolved by m/z and LC retention time separation. The novel TIMScore algorithm with PaSER (Parallel
database Search Engine in Real-time) technology distinguishes the timsTOF Pro from other commercial
IMS instruments. An experienced facility director, dedicated staffs, bioinformatics support, internal
advisory committee comprising leading experts in mass spectrometry, strong institutional commitment
and responsible operation and management plans are described. The Office of the Executive Vice
President for Research and Partnership and the Bindley Bioscience Center will provide excellent
infrastructure and commitment to additional funds toward the extended service contract to insulate users
from increased fees. Purdue will also provide partial funding over the first five years for a staff scientist
who will be hired to support the instrument operation and maintenance. Of the 4,000 hours of estimated
accessible user time (AUT) of the instrument, seventy-five percent is allocated to NIH-supported research
projects, and remaining 25% will be used by other core users and for cleaning, calibration, annual PM,
method development, and user training. Projects described in this application aim to address changes in
protein modifications, and protein-protein and protein-ligand interactions, critical in cellular signaling and
disease pathologies. Thus, access to the timsTOF Pro MS will benefit many NIH supported projects that
focus in signal transduction, therapeutic protein characterization, structural biology, biomarker discovery,
and infectious diseases.