Bruker's new solariX mass spectrometer gives ten-fold increase in sensitivity

5 June 2009

Your browser does not support inline frames or is currently configured not to display inline frames. Bruker Daltonics has launched the solariX, its next generation hybrid Qq-FTMS platform. The solariX is the culmination of a number of key technology developments that deliver unique capabilities and unparalleled ultra-high resolution mass spectrometry performance and versatility.

At the core of these innovations are dramatically improved broad-band mass resolving power (8x over earlier platforms), sensitivity (> 10x over earlier platforms) and dynamic range. These dramatic improvements help address today’s most challenging top-down proteomics and complex mixture applications.

Its broad-band, ultra-high resolving power (> 1,000,000 @ m/z 400, for a 7 tesla instrument) and outstanding sub-ppm mass accuracy make the solariX more powerful than any previous mass spectrometer for the analysis of extremely complex mixtures.

This extraordinary increase in the number of available m/z channels is essential for tackling very complex mixtures, especially those that are not amenable to high-resolution chromatography separation techniques.

These applications can include: hydrocarbon related analysis (petroleomics), environmental soil/sediment analysis, small-molecule biological tissue MALDI imaging, metabolomics, and the inherently complex peak patterns resulting from top-down proteomics.

For applications that require high performance LC-FTMS or LC-MS/FTMS, the solariX offers faster and smart data-dependent acquisition capabilities. Moreover, sub-ppm mass accuracy is maintained throughout the LC-MS analysis using Bruker’s proprietary Ion Charge Control (ICC™) method.

Adding to the existing arsenal of top-down proteomics structural fragmentation tools (ECD, Q-CID, in-cell SORI-CID), solariX is now the first FTMS system with Electron Transfer Dissociation (ETD).

This exciting new technique is superb for in-depth, comprehensive analysis of proteins and peptides and their labile, post-translational modifications (PTMs). ETD-analysis has been fully automated and can be combined with LC-MS/FTMS workflows in combination with quadrupole fragmentation (Q-CID) to provide unprecedented levels of protein structural information.

The solariX can also be easily incorporated into the workflows of other mainstream proteomics platforms such as the new Bruker ultrafleXtreme MALDI-TOF/TOF (for high throughput biomarker discovery/quantitation and Edmass™ protein sequencing) and amaZon ion trap (for high-throughput LC-MS/MS).

The solariX provides complementary analytical capabilities through the combination of unique dissociation tools with the performance necessary to address the most challenging structural or functional proteomics applications, including protein structural studies and PTM characterization.

The new dual ion funnel source combined with a unique rf ion transfer system makes the solariX FTMS as intuitive and easy to use as a benchtop ion trap mass spectrometer. Operation of the instrument is performed using Bruker’s unified Compass software, enabling researchers to harness the analytical power and versatility of FTMS with ease.

The solariX can be configured with a unique dual ESI/MALDI source, and a range of API source options (APCI, GC-APCI, APPI). Low maintenance, refrigerated magnets are standard at several magnetic field options, including 7T, 9.4T, 12T and 15T. The solariX is the realization of the highest performance FTMS product ever released to the marketplace, equally well suited for small molecule or protein applications.

Professor André Deelder of Leiden University Medical Center, Netherlands, commented: “Part of our mission is to leverage new, enabling technologies for life science research. Therefore, we are very excited to have received the first two solariX systems, which are 12 tesla and 15 tesla instruments. The advanced performance and added capabilities of solariX have been integrated into our proteomics and metabolomics workflows. They will increase our capacity for in-depth characterization and quantitative analysis of the large number of samples generally encountered in clinical studies, and will enable us to identify more proteins with very high quantitative precision.”

Professor Michael Gross of Washington University, St. Louis, MO, stated: “Our work in top-down protein characterization will greatly benefit from the enhanced sensitivity and ETD capabilities of the solariX FTMS. We have purchased the solariX 12T system and are very much looking forward to having it in our laboratory.”

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