Biological Mass Spectrometry
Mass spectrometry (MS) is a powerful and diverse technique, which is used to detect and quantify molecules of interest in study samples such as blood serum/plasma (50-400 µL) and tissue. Housed in the School of Pharmacy, the Centre for Analytical Bioscience (CAB Group) uses various MS based approaches to help answer key biological questions. In collaboration with the Pain Centre Versus Arthritis, CAB members have used liquid chromatography coupled with MS (LC-MS/MS) to study the roles of endocannabinoids and bioactive lipid mediators in pain and musculoskeletal diseases such as osteoarthritis, acute knee injury, and trauma.
The CAB facility houses extensive specialist mass spectrometry instrumentation including high resolution MS (Thermo Exactive and QExactive Orbitrap), ion trap MS (Thermo LTQ Velos) and quadruple linear ion trap MS (QTraps 4000 and 6500+). The group offers expertise in both targeted and untargeted metabolomics and lipidomics, fluxomics, metabolic pathway profiling, and biomarker identification analysis. We work closely with collaborators in the Pain Centre in study design and data analysis. The data generated from these analytical workflows help researchers in deciphering the molecular mechanisms that underpin disease pathology, which is essential to develop new ways to treat painful conditions in the future.
For more details about biological mass spectrometry used within the Pain Centre Versus Arthritis, please contact Jamie Turnbull.
View our publications on Biological Mass Spectrometry