Grant: Research Tools and Instruments

This grant will allow the purchase of a high-resolution quadrupole time-of-flight (QTOF) mass spectrometer which is essential for my laboratory to continue our research in improving metabolomics and lipidomics methods in our newly-established laboratory at Concordia University. My laboratory focuses on improving the detection of low abundance metabolome through the development of new extraction approaches and materials, and for this work it is absolutely necessary to have an on-site dedicated access to a highly sensitive mass spectrometer such as Agilent 6550 QTOF requested in this application. The Centre for Biological Applications of Mass Spectrometry houses LTQ Velos Orbitrap that is suitable for this work. This instrument is available to Vuckovic group ~1.5 days per week since this is shared instrument for entire Concordia University running on 24/7, 365 days/year schedule. The remaining instruments available in the centre are two >10-year old QTOFs which do not provide sufficient sensitivity/mass resolving power for the work described herein. Vuckovic lab currently trains 7 graduate students, so 1.5 day availability of Orbitrap time per week is insufficient for timely progress of my students’ research. Our typical analysis times are 30 min per sample, so 1.5 days is sufficient to run only one analytical batch for one student. To temporarily address this issue, we received 1-year loan of Agilent QTOF instrument to permit us to test the instrument’s sensitivity and resolution in our protocols and decide if this instrument is suitable for our work. This 1-year loan period has now expired, and if there are no funds available for purchase, the instrument will be removed from Vuckovic lab. However, this equipment is absolutely critical for Vuckovic's research program which includes studies (i) to develop new analytical methods to characterize the low abundance metabolites in human biological samples such as blood and tissues, (ii) to systematically characterize metabolite-protein binding and study the dependence of metabolite concentrations on circadian rhythm, (iii) to evaluate eicosanoids as possible biomarkers of anaphylaxis using a large cross-Canada registry of urine samples, (iv) to study the immune system response to nanoparticle and mycotoxin exposure, (v) to compare different extraction methods for lipidomics of brain to aid in drug discovery and (vi) to perform large-scale metabolomics and lipidomics studies to support preventative health studies in Concordia's PERFORM Centre. The equipment is critical to establish Vuckovic laboratory on an international level in analytical and clinical metabolomics/lipidomics and sample preparation. The requested purchase will also serve as a state-of-the-art hands-on training tool for students as they design/execute high-resolution mass spectrometry-based  omics assays.