Waters Journal Club: Advancing Cyclic Ion Mobility Mass Spectrometry Methods for Studying Biomolecules

Join us LIVE for the Waters Journal Club.

This interactive session will bring together the MS community to discuss some of the most popular and exciting peer-reviewed publications in a friendly and open forum.

Ahead of each meeting, we will send out a link to the discussion article, then during the session an expert will summarise the main findings and answer your questions.

Be prepared make sure you read Advancing Cyclic Ion Mobility Mass Spectrometry Methods for Studying Biomolecules: Toward the Conformational Dynamics of Mega Dalton Protein Aggregates

We're going to be joined by ETH Zurich, one of the world's leading universities in science and technology, known for its cutting-edge research and innovation, pioneering effective solutions to the global challenges of today and tomorrow.

This paper describes how Waters' SELECT SERIES Cyclic IMS can be utilized for the analysis of large biomolecular systems, including temperature-induced protein aggregates of masses greater than 1.5 MDa, as well as a 63 kDa oligonucleotide complex.

Reasons to Attend:

• Debate some of the most topical papers from all-time favourites to some of the latest releases
• Focus on understanding the benefit of Cyclic IMS and how to get the most out of the system for native mass spectrometry and biomolecule analysis
• Gain a greater understanding of applications and technologies by asking questions of the authors and/or expert panel
• No pre-recorded content, authors will be LIVE and on camera to answer questions

Abstract: Native mass spectrometry is a powerful tool for the analysis of noncovalent complexes. When coupled with high-resolution ion mobility, this technique can be used to investigate the conformational changes induced in said complexes by different solution or gas-phase conditions. In this study, we describe how a new-generation high-resolution ion mobility instrument equipped with a cyclic ion mobility cell can be utilized for the analysis of large biomolecular systems, including temperature-induced protein aggregates of masses greater than 1.5 MDa, as well as a 63 kDa oligonucleotide complex. The effects of and the interplay between the voltages applied to the different components of the cyclic ion mobility spectrometry system on ion transmission and arrival time distribution were demonstrated using biomolecules covering the m/z range 2000–10,000. These data were used to establish a theoretical framework for achieving the best separation in the cyclic ion mobility system. Finally, the cyclic ion mobility mass spectrometer was coupled with a temperature-controlled electrospray ionization source to investigate high-mass protein aggregation. This analysis showed that it was possible to continuously monitor the change in abundance for several conformations of MDa aggregates with increasing temperature. This work significantly increases the range of biomolecules that can be analyzed by both cyclic ion mobility and temperature-controlled electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, providing new possibilities for high-resolution ion mobility analysis.

Presenter: Dr. Julian Harrison (Staff of Professorship for Analytical Chemistry, ETH Zurich)

Julian Harrison received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Wollongong in 2020, working under the supervision of Prof. Jennifer L. Beck and Dr. Celine Kelso. In 2021, he was employed as a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zürich under the direction of Prof. Renato Zenobi. ]

He works in multiple fields, primarily studying protein complexes, enzymes, snake venoms, and new therapeutics using native, temperature-controlled, and ion mobility mass spectrometry. In collaboration with Adam Pruška, he is also helping design a new temperature-controlled source, which will be the basis for their new company.

Presenter: Dr . Adam Pruška (Staff of Professorship for Analytical Chemistry, ETH Zurich)

Adam Pruška studied analytical chemistry at Masaryk University in the Czech Republic and Justus-Liebig University in Germany under the supervision of Prof. Jan Preisler and Prof. Bernhard Spengler.

He finished his M.Sc. in 2017, specializing in matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) and the multimodal bioimaging of tumor spheroids. Continuing his academic career, Adam obtained his Ph.D. at ETH Zurich in 2023, within the group of Prof. Renato Zenobi.

His doctoral research focused on exploring the thermodynamics of nucleic acids, proteins, and their non-covalent complexes. He is embarking on an entrepreneurial path as a postdoctoral researcher, developing temperature-controlled electrospray ionization technology for commercial use.

Presenter: Philipp Bittner (Student / Programme Doctorate at D-​CHAB, ETH Zurich)

Philipp Bittner graduated from the University of Regensburg, Germany, with a B.Sc. in Biology (2015) and an M.Sc. in Biochemistry (2018).

After finishing his first research project about photoresponsive enzyme complexes in Prof. Reinhard Sterner's group, he joined Prof. Renato Zenobi's native MS team for his Ph.D. thesis (2020).

His research now focuses on mass spectrometric investigations of modified collagen peptides, DNA-encoded chemical libraries, and antibody glycosylation patterns.

Presenters: Despoina Svingou (Student / Programme Doctorate at D-CHAB, ETH Zurich)

Despoina Svingou obtained her B.Sc. in Chemistry and M.Sc. in Natural Products Chemistry & Pharmacognosy from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. Her research focused on developing LC-MS methods for the analytical determination of bioactive compounds in various complex matrices. Currently, she is pursuing a Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry at ETH Zurich under the supervision of Prof. Renato Zenobi.

She utilizes cutting-edge techniques such as native mass spectrometry and gas-phase fluorescence spectroscopy to unravel the molecular mechanisms underlying neurodegenerative diseases and develop novel methodologies to characterize amyloidogenic proteins and their complexes.

Presenter: Dale Cooper-Shepherd (Principal Scientist, Waters Corporation, UK)

Dale Cooper-Shepherd undertook PhD studies at the University of Leeds and conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Oxford, UK. Throughout his training, Cooper-Shepherd specialized in applying MS techniques in the field of structural biology. He joined Waters in 2015 and since 2019 has been working on the SELECT SERIES of instruments.