Travelling wave ion mobility mass spectrometry of 5‐aminolaevulinic acid, porphobilinogen and porphyrins

Abstract

We have shown, for the first time, an analytical method capable of simultaneously separating haem biosynthetic intermediates and metabolites, for a potential rapid clinical screening method for the porphyrias. IMS-MS allowed the separation of doubly charged porphyrin ions, which will be advantageous for the analysis of natural and synthetic tetrapyrrole compounds, while reducing the misinterpretation of contaminants.

High mass accuracy assay for trimethylamine N-oxide using stable-isotope dilution with liquid chromatography coupled to orthogonal acceleration time of flight mass spectrometry with multiple reaction monitoring

“…Furthermore with the Synapt series of mass spectrometers, travelling wave ion mobility technology offers another method of separation which has been shown to afford clinical utility in a qualitative [33] and quantitative [34] manner.…”

Mass-spectrometric profiling of porphyrins in complex biological samples with fundamental, toxicological, and pharmacological applications

“…These methods, moreover, may require significant column- and analyte-specific optimization in order to render them quantitative. Sophisticated MS/MS methods, on the other hand, have been developed for highly sensitive monitoring of specific porphyrias [4, 22, 22–24], but may not be generally accessible or flexible enough for toxicological, pharmacological, or basic research applications. High resolution (±0.005 mass units) electrospray ionization time of flight mass spectrometric methods allow for the definitive identification of compounds of interest, even against a complex background, via their exact masses.…”

“…These molecules must be separated, detected, and in many cases quantified within these biological milieu. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is the longstanding technique of choice for separating porphyrin precursors and breakdown products of heme [22–24]. It remains a staple technique in many toxicology, pharmacology, and research labs because it is flexible, ubiquitous, and relatively inexpensive.…”

“…Many existing mass spectrometry-based studies on porphyrins have focused on identifying specific analytes or even particular isomers of analytes for diagnostic purposes, with an emphasis on tandem MS/MS [4, 22, 22–24]. Because they are highly refined to detect their target analytes, these methods can be exquisitely sensitive.…”

Next Generation Instruments and Methods for Proteomics

“…The trap and transfer TWIGs can also act as collision cells, allowing an ion fragmentation step prior to and/or after IMS separation (Benton et al, 2012). An ion mobility cell consisting of three (trap, mobility, and transfer) traveling wave ion guides (TWIGs) is interposed between the Q-TOF analyzers.…”