Mass Spectrometry Techniques and Applications

Mass spectrometry measures molecules by converting them into ions and separating those ions according to their mass-to-charge ratio, making it one of the most sensitive and versatile tools for identifying and quantifying chemical compounds in complex mixtures. Ionization methods like electrospray and MALDI have been particularly transformative, enabling researchers to analyze large, fragile biomolecules such as proteins and peptides without destroying them in the process. Current work pushes toward imaging intact tissue samples at high spatial resolution, performing measurements directly under ambient conditions without extensive sample preparation, and coupling ion mobility separations to distinguish molecules that share the same mass but differ in three-dimensional shape. Open challenges include improving sensitivity and speed for single-cell proteomics, and developing computational tools capable of interpreting the increasingly rich structural information that modern instruments can generate.

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Keywords

Mass SpectrometryIonizationElectrosprayProteinsImagingAmbient Conditions