Project Summary / Abstract
The proposal requests funding for a new shared-use Thermo Scientific Orbitrap Fusion Lumos mass
spectrometer with EASY-nLC 1200 system ultra-high performance liquid chromatography system to enable the
acquisition of the highest quality proteomics data sets at the University of Missouri – Kansas City (UMKC). The
proposed instrumentation will be an integral part of the UMKC Biological Mass Spectrometry and Proteomics
Facility (BMSPF) located in UMKC’s School of Medicine. Currently, all proteomics experiments at UMKC are
analyzed using a single, refurbished Thermo Scientific Q Exactive Plus mass spectrometer purchased in 2016;
this is the only high resolution proteomics-capable mass spectrometer available to UMKC investigators. It lacks
the crucial advanced analytical options required for NIH-funded research of BMSPF users. The requested
instrumentation will address this critical need by providing the substantial technological upgrades required for
health-related projects focused on elucidating the protein contributions to human diseases and forming the basis
for novel therapeutic strategies pursued by NIH-funded investigators at UMKC. These vital features include much
faster scan speeds possible with the ultra-high field Orbitrap, and exclusive scan modes such as MultiNotch for
providing the highest quantitative accuracy in whole proteome analysis in multiplexed samples for high
throughput, and also the coordinated use of the unique tribrid mass spectrometer components to increase
proteome coverage for more comprehensive data sets and deep “label free” quantitation. These urgently needed
features are uniquely possible using the proposed instrumentation, and are required for the proposal’s 23
investigators, of which 13 are funded by grants from 9 different NIH institutes. By implementing these new
technologies featured on the Orbitrap Fusion Lumos, BMSPF will permit breakthrough research that requires
analysis of the scant amounts of material available in critical tissue samples and affinity purified materials our
investigators prepare, identifying proteins that are implicated in disease using quantitative proteomics of the
highest accuracy. The proposed system will serve a diverse and increasing community of NIH-funded
researchers at UMKC meeting the current increased and future needs for characterization and quantitation of
specific proteins, protein complexes, and whole proteomes, as well as modernize training in health-related
research. The proposed equipment will accelerate research progress and enhance the rigor, quality and breadth
of research results determining causes, mechanisms of action and generate data of the highest impact possible.
Overall, these advancements will allow NIH-funded UMKC investigators in need of this instrumentation conduct
research on diseases that affect significant and increasing portions of the U.S. population including minorities
affected by disparities in health care delivery, to determine the underlying protein contributions to human disease,
help design future therapeutics and improve health care.
