Tags: Analytical Seminar

This presentation will summarize 37 years of mass spectrometry research in the Amster group at UGA.
While there has been a recent emphasis in the field of chemistry education research on bridging the gap between research and practice, another important divide warrants attention: the growing gap between undergraduate academia and chemical industry. According to recent American Chemical Society data, approximately 70% of chemistry graduates enter industry directly after earning their bachelor’s degree. However, little is known about how these…
Techniques for the detection of extremely high mass ions or the analysis of heterogenous samples in mass spectrometry are often limited by overlapping charge states and poor resolution.1 The invention of electrospray ionization allowed for ionization of increasingly larger ions in mass spectrometry where multiple charging allows for the mass-to-charge ratio to be much lower than the molecular mass.2 In traditional mass spectrometry, the mass-to-…
Food packaging materials extensively utilize PFAS compounds for their exceptional grease and moisture resistance properties, yet their environmental persistence and potential health implications necessitate robust analytical methodologies.1 The primary analytical challenges arise from PFAS structural diversity, ultra-trace concentrations, and complex matrix interference from packaging substrates. Contemporary LC–MS/MS methodologies address these…
De novo protein design has experienced a renaissance in recent years due to advances in generative diffusion-based approaches to develop high affinity, target-specific binders. However, the ability of these tools to generate “new-to-nature” proteins with unique backbones and amino acid sequences that target lipid/protein assemblies has not yet been explored. Here, we apply an end-to-end design pipeline using RFdiffusionAA, LigandMPNN, Chai-…
Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), linear polysaccharides found near the cell membrane as proteoglycans and free oligosaccharides, play important roles regarding cell functions. GAGs have been implicated as potential biomarkers in many diseases like cancer and kidney related diseases and are used as therapeutics for many types of ailments. Because they are highly sulfated, complex GAGs have been analyzed with reverse polarity capillary electrophoresis (…
Cellular processes depend on the coordinated function of all proteoforms—the distinct molecular forms of a protein that arise from mechanisms such as alternative splicing and post-translational modifications. Different proteoforms can have distinct free energy landscapes that may alter their structures, motions, and interactions with other proteins. As a result, changes in proteoforms can alter cellular regulation and lead to…
N-linked glycosylation is an important post translational modification, and the changes in N-glycan patterns are known to be associated with various human diseases. The study of N-glycans is crucial for the safety and efficacy of biotherapeutics. Tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) is a popular method in glycomics where glycans are identified via their mass to charge (m/z) and fragment ions. However, glycans exist as isomers arising from linkage,…
Ion mobility spectrometry-mass spectrometry has emerged as an orthogonal and complementary analytical technique to liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry in omics-based analyses. Carbohydrate-containing molecules, such as human milk oligosaccharides and glycolipids, are notoriously difficult to characterize, largely owing to their high degrees of isomeric heterogeneity. Thus, new analytical methodologies are required to improve the…
The sequencing of intact proteins within a mass spectrometer enables the profiling of post-translational modification (PTM) crosstalk but is frequently hindered by convoluted spectra and the fact that tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) techniques often generate poor sequence coverages when applied to protein ions. Ion mobility spectrometry is a promising tool to overcome the complexity of these spectra by separating ions by their mass- and size-to…