Thermo Scientific Stellar mass spectrometer

Importance of the Topic

Targeted mass spectrometry is a cornerstone of modern analytical chemistry, enabling sensitive and specific quantitation of molecules in complex matrices. High-throughput, high-capacity workflows accelerate biomarker discovery and validation, support QA/QC in pharmaceutical and clinical laboratories, and extend applications to low-input samples such as single cells.

Objectives and Study Overview

This article presents the Thermo Scientific™ Stellar™ mass spectrometer, which integrates triple-quadrupole quantitative robustness with dual-pressure linear ion trap sensitivity. It aims to demonstrate:

• Expanded target capacity across peptides, metabolites, lipids, and post-translational modifications.
• Ultra-fast full-scan MS2 and MS3 acquisition (up to 140 Hz and 40 Hz).
• Improved dynamic range, specificity, and throughput.

Methodology and Used Instrumentation

The Stellar platform combines multiple advanced components:

• QR5 Plus segmented quadrupole for narrow precursor isolation.
• Ion Concentrating Routing Multipole (ICRM) for efficient trapping and HCD fragmentation.
• Hyper-fast dual-pressure linear ion trap for rapid MSn scans.
• Extended scale photomultiplier detector for single-ion sensitivity over five orders of magnitude.
• OptaMax Plus ion source for enhanced ionization.
• Vanquish™ Neo UHPLC system with Tandem Direct Injection workflow for high-throughput chromatography.

Acquisition modes include data-dependent (DDA), data-independent (DIA), synchronous precursor selection (SPS) MS3 for TMT, unlabeled MS3, and targeted MS2 (tMS2) and MS3 (tMS3) schemes. The onboard PRM Conductor tool automates method creation and real-time retention time alignment.

Main Results and Discussion

Key performance highlights include:

• Quantification of ~9,000 surrogate peptides from ~2,000 proteins in 60 minutes with >88% CV < 20%.
• Single-cell targeted analysis covering low- to high-abundance proteins across four orders of magnitude.
• Rapid multiplexed phosphopeptide quantitation: 263 endogenous and heavy standards in a 30-minute run, outperforming legacy 120-minute methods.
• Online isomeric triglyceride separation and quantitation via tMS3 in a 30-minute UHPLC gradient.
• 4× throughput for amino acids and acylcarnitines: over 100 analytes in 2 minutes and processing of 96-well plates in 9 hours.
• Absolute quantitation of 804 SIL peptides from 583 plasma proteins in a 100 samples per day method with linear response from 0.03 to 100 fmol.

Benefits and Practical Applications

Researchers and laboratories gain:

• Enhanced study power through increased sensitivity and reduced missing values.
• Streamlined workflows for discovery-to-validation in biomarker research.
• Robust quantitation in complex biological and clinical samples.
• Flexibility for both small-molecule assays and large-panel proteomics or lipidomics.

Future Trends and Possibilities

Ongoing developments may include:

• Deeper integration of AI-driven method optimization and data interpretation.
• Expansion to single-cell multi-omics combining proteome, metabolome, and lipidome in one run.
• Faster chromatography and microfluidic interfaces for sub-minute analyses.
• Cloud-based data management and collaborative platforms for large-scale clinical studies.

Conclusion

The Stellar mass spectrometer redefines targeted quantitative analysis by uniting high specificity, sensitivity, and throughput in a single platform. Its advanced ion optics, rapid MSn acquisition, and automated method creation accelerate biomarker verification, extend analytical scope to low-input and complex samples, and support the next generation of translational research.

References

No external references were provided.