The University of Nebraska Medical Center Board of Regents recently approved the purchase of a Thermo Electron LTQ Orbitrap XL. The $900,000 piece of equipment was purchased in part by federal funds and from UNMC’s Tobacco Settlement Biomedical Research Development Fund.
The Orbitrap, about the size of two refrigerators, is a mass spectrometer – a tool used in many areas of research to study the structure of molecules, including proteins. Proteins are some of the signals by which cells communicate. The instrument will be located in the Durham Research Center and will be used primarily for research in neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and HIV dementia. It also will be available to researchers studying other diseases.
“The Orbitrap is a mass spectrometer, but it’s superior and fulfills a very special niche that adds to the suite of instruments we will use to study proteins, said Paula Turpen, Ph.D., UNMC director of research resources. “It’s especially good at allowing researchers to find out how proteins have been modified.”
Pawel Ciborowski, Ph.D., assistant professor, UNMC Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience, will help researchers use the instrument. Dr. Ciborowski, director of the UNMC Mass Spectrometry and Proteomics Core Facility, said the Orbitrap is at least one class above other mass spectrometers used in university research.
“This is the first of its kind in Nebraska,” Dr. Ciborowski said. “This is a top-of-the-line instrument made by Thermo Scientific. The big advantage of this instrument is the extraordinary accuracy in measuring molecules.
“It’s cutting edge technology with superior resolution, is highly accurate, highly sensitive and will give us an opportunity to do research that we were unable to do up until now. This will help our research be more nationally and internationally competitive and help us tremendously in competing for grants.”
The instrument also is used to find out if cells are making defective proteins, and can compare proteins of healthy individuals to those with disease in an effort to identify the differences. Differences can reflect biomarkers in the disease process, which then can be used to develop a diagnostic test or to develop a therapy that will target or prevent the formation of the defect or function of a particular protein.
The Orbitrap was purchased by the UNMC Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience, and the UNMC office of vice chancellor for research. The Orbitrap is expected to arrive in the next two months.