Mass spectrometry articles within Nature Chemistry

Featured

  • Article |

    Lipidomics aims to uncover lipid functions in biological systems and disease. Quantifying lipids is challenging due to highly diverse chemical structures. Here a diazobutanone-assisted isobaric labelling method is developed that relies on diazobutanone and isobaric mass tags to target phosphate- and sulfate-containing lipids, enabling multiplexed lipidomic quantification in complex mixtures.

    • Ting-Jia Gu
    • , Peng-Kai Liu
    •  & Lingjun Li

  • News & Views |

    Although light-driven conversion of carbon dioxide receives widespread attention, it is also criticized due to the challenge of discerning true product formation from that of impurities. Now, significantly advanced guidelines for proper product identification have been developed, so we can better trust in what we see.

    • Jennifer Strunk

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Native mass spectrometry has been used to interrogate both biased signalling and allosteric modulation of the β1-adrenergic receptor. Simultaneously capturing the effects of ligand binding and receptor coupling to different G proteins has enabled the relative importance of specific interactions to be investigated.

    • Hsin-Yung Yen
    • , Idlir Liko
    •  & Carol V. Robinson

  • Article |

    Identifying and quantifying the biodistribution of synthetic polymeric nanoparticles in biological milieu is crucial for biomedical applications. Now, it has been shown that encoded polymeric amphiphiles with discrete molar masses undergo sequence- and length-dependent self-assembly into precise digital micelles that can be used in direct sequence reading and ex vivo label-free quantification assays.

    • Qiangqiang Shi
    • , Hao Yin
    •  & Shiyong Liu

  • News & Views |

    Extending mass spectrometry measurements of biomolecules into the megadalton regime is challenging due to the limited resolving power of currently used mass analysers. Now, using single ion-charge detection Orbitrap mass spectrometry, a mass accuracy of 0.001% has been demonstrated for protein particles larger than 9 MDa.

    • Muhammad A. Zenaidee
    •  & Joseph A. Loo

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The mass precision and resolution in charge-detection mass spectrometry can be improved by correcting frequency drifts of single ions. Now, chasing these individual ions for seconds in an Orbitrap mass spectrometer has revealed the exceptional stability of ultra-high-mass ions, culminating in an effective resolution of greater than 100,000 at m/z = 35,000.

    • Tobias P. Wörner
    • , Konstantin Aizikov
    •  & Albert J. R. Heck

  • Article |

    The biosynthesis of goadvionins—hybrid lipopeptide antibiotics—is not fully understood. An unusual acyltransferase, GdvG, has now been identified and shown to catalyse a condensation reaction between an acyl-carrier-protein-tethered very-long-chain fatty acid and an eight-residue ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptide. The position of functional groups in the very-long acyl chain have been determined by tandem mass spectrometry.

    • Ryosuke Kozakai
    • , Takuto Ono
    •  & Hiroyasu Onaka

  • Article |

    Nearly all organic carbon has now been quantified and characterized in a highly complex evolving atmospheric system, specifically, the multigenerational oxidation of α-pinene. It has been observed that initial addition of functional groups quickly gives way to fragmentation reactions, with organic carbon ultimately becoming sequestered in chemically resistant reservoirs: organic aerosols and long-lived gas-phase species.

    • Gabriel Isaacman-VanWertz
    • , Paola Massoli
    •  & Jesse H. Kroll

  • News & Views |

    Mass spectrometry is a powerful technique for analysing proteins, yet linking higher-order protein structure to amino acid sequence and post-translational modifications is far from simple. Now, a native top-down method has been developed that can provide information on higher-order protein structure and different proteoforms at the same time.

    • Kathrin Breuker

  • Article |

    An integrated native mass spectrometry and top-down proteomics method using Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance has been developed for the characterization of macromolecular protein complexes. This approach directly yields primary to quaternary structural information in a single native top-down experiment.

    • Huilin Li
    • , Hong Hanh Nguyen
    •  & Joseph A. Loo

  • Article |

    Berkelium is the only transplutonium element predicted to be able to exhibit both +III and +IV oxidation states in solution. Bk(IV) has now been stabilized through chelation with a siderophore derivative. The resulting neutral coordination compound was characterized and compared with the negatively charged species obtained by chelation of neighbouring trivalent actinides.

    • Gauthier J.-P. Deblonde
    • , Manuel Sturzbecher-Hoehne
    •  & Rebecca J. Abergel

  • Article |

    Anti-proliferative compounds that display enhanced toxicity in a low-oxygen (hypoxic) environment may be used to eradicate aggressive and therapy-resistant cancer cells. Now, a promising lead structure has been identified in the BE-43547-class of depsipeptide natural products.

    • Nikolaj L. Villadsen
    • , Kristian M. Jacobsen
    •  & Thomas B. Poulsen

  • Article |

    There is increasing evidence that highly dynamic, polydisperse peptide oligomers are the toxic species in amyloid-related diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Now, the secondary structure of individual amyloid oligomers has been analysed directly for the first time using a combination of ion-mobility spectrometry–mass spectrometry and gas-phase infrared spectroscopy.

    • Jongcheol Seo
    • , Waldemar Hoffmann
    •  & Kevin Pagel

  • Article |

    Li+-selective solid electrolytes may enable next-generation battery systems, such as Li–S and Li–O2. Now, in an exemplar system, it is shown that a resistive interphase forms at the interface between solid and liquid electrolytes, termed the solid-liquid electrolyte interphase (SLEI). An in situ study of this undesirable effect is supported by state-of-the-art surface analysis.

    • Martin R. Busche
    • , Thomas Drossel
    •  & Jürgen Janek

  • News & Views |

    In their natural environment, membrane proteins are surrounded by lipids, but the effect that the lipids have on the proteins is not easy to assess. Now, controlling the extent of delipidation has enabled the study of these interactions.

    • Sophie R. Harvey
    •  & Vicki H. Wysocki

  • Article |

    Defining the lipid composition that exists around a membrane protein complex in natural bilayers is a challenging task. Now, key lipids that are important for the structure and function of an ABC transporter have been revealed by systematically removing layers of lipids, and using mass spectrometry to monitor those that remained closely associated with the membrane protein.

    • Chérine Bechara
    • , Anne Nöll
    •  & Carol V. Robinson

  • Article |

    A method for rapidly screening small-molecule inhibitors of amyloid assembly has been developed. This method uses electrospray ionization–ion mobility spectrometry–mass spectrometry to detect and identify the type of inhibition. A screen of this nature could help in the discovery of therapeutics for numerous diseases associated with aberrant protein aggregation.

    • Lydia M. Young
    • , Janet C. Saunders
    •  & Alison E. Ashcroft

  • Thesis |

    They might not be fundamental constants of nature, but atomic weights are one of the foundations on which modern chemistry is built, explains Juris Meija.

    • Juris Meija

  • Review Article |

    Ion mobility-mass spectrometry (IM-MS) is enhancing many areas of (bio)chemical analysis because it can separate ions both by their mass-to-charge ratio and differences in their cross-sectional area. IM-MS can be used for structural characterization, enhanced analysis of complex mixtures or to gain insights into conformational dynamics.

    • Francesco Lanucara
    • , Stephen W. Holman
    •  & Claire E. Eyers

  • News & Views |

    ATP synthase is an important enzyme for the storage and release of energy in cells. Ion-mobility mass spectrometry has now been used to study its structure, revealing important mechanistic details about its operation and regulation.

    • Jianhua Zhao
    •  & John L. Rubinstein

  • Article |

    Ion mobility–mass spectrometry has enabled the study of conformation and dynamics of membrane proteins in the gas phase. Here, the enhanced flexibility of macromolecular ATPase was investigated by comparing arrival time distributions of distinct species and relating them to different solution conditions, leading to the proposal of a nucleotide-triggered regulatory mechanism.

    • Min Zhou
    • , Argyris Politis
    •  & Carol V. Robinson

  • Article |

    Identification of glycosylation patterns is complicated by the lack of sensitive analytical techniques that can distinguish between epimeric carbohydrates. It has now been shown that ion-mobility tandem mass spectrometry of ions derived from glycopeptides and oligosaccharides enables glycan stereochemistry to be determined, highlighting the potential of this technique for sequencing complex carbohydrates on cell surfaces.

    • P. Both
    • , A. P. Green
    •  & C. E. Eyers

  • Article |

    The development of new reaction methodology is a core activity for organic chemists, but the process can be slow and can rely on serendipity. Here, a reaction discovery platform is described that relies on the labelling of a reaction component with a chemical tag that enables rapid mass spectrometric detection of the derived products in complex mixtures.

    • Jaime R. Cabrera-Pardo
    • , David I. Chai
    •  & Sergey A. Kozmin

  • Article |

    Variable-temperature mass spectrometry, isotopic labelling and computational analysis have been used to characterize a metastable non-haem oxo-iron(V) intermediate generated at cryogenic temperatures, as well as to study its cis-dihydroxylation reaction with olefins. The study provides experimental evidence for the existence of this powerful and biologically important oxidant, under conditions relevant to catalysis.

    • Irene Prat
    • , Jennifer S. Mathieson
    •  & Miquel Costas

  • Article |

    Amyloid cascades leading to peptide β-sheet fibrils are central to many diseases. Intermediate assemblies were recently identified as the toxic agents, but obtaining structural details of these early oligomers has largely been unsuccessful with traditional techniques. Here, ion mobility methods provide evidence for structural transitions from random to β-sheet assembly.

    • Christian Bleiholder
    • , Nicholas F. Dupuis
    •  & Michael T. Bowers

  • Research Highlights |

    Desorption electrospray ionization has been used to detect reaction intermediates through mass spectrometry.

    • Gavin Armstrong

  • Article |

    Identifying the best catalyst for a particular reaction traditionally involves testing a wide variety of metal and ligand combinations in standard reactions. Here, the best catalyst is found by using mass spectrometry to identify the least stable — and thus most reactive — intermediate in a dynamic mixture of complexes.

    • Jeroen Wassenaar
    • , Eveline Jansen
    •  & Joost N. H. Reek

  • Research Highlights |

    Specific molecules in the brain can be imaged and used to make a three-dimensional model of the organ.

    • Neil Withers

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