Increasing ionization efficiency in mass spectrometry
AssigneeAgilent Technologies, Inc.
InventorJoel Myerson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system for the analysis of polyionic molecules by mass spectrometry is provided. The polyionic molecule is attached to a charged tag which neutralizes some of the charge on the polyionic analyte. The formed adduct with a reduced net charge is then analyzed by mass spectrometry, and the determined molecular weight of the adduct can be used to calculate the molecular weight of the analyte. Mass spectrometric analyses of polynucleotides and proteins are particularly amenable to this method.
Claims20
A method of analyzing a polyionic molecule by mass spectrometry, the method comprising steps of:
- providing a polyionic molecule;
- attaching at least one charged tag to the polyionic molecule to produce a polyionic molecule/tag adduct, wherein the net charge on the adduct differs from that of the polyionic molecule;
- and
- analyzing the adduct by mass spectrometry.
A method of analyzing a collection of polyionic molecules by mass spectrometry, the method comprising steps of:
- providing a collection of polyionic molecules, wherein the molecules have different charges;
- attaching at least one charged tag to each polyionic molecule to produce a collection of polyionic molecule/tag adducts, wherein the net charge on each adduct differs from that of each corresponding polyionic molecule;
- and
- analyzing the collection of adducts by mass spectrometry.
A composition comprising a polyionic molecule and tag, wherein the net charge of polyionic molecule/tag adduct differs from that of the polyionic molecule.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.