Synthetic cannabinoid isomers characterization by MALDI-MS imaging: Application to single scalp hair.

New designer drugs, as synthetic cannabinoids (SCs), continuously appear on the market and are booming due to their cannabis-like effect. New generation of smokable SCs, structurally dissimilar from Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), have isomers with distinguishable pharmacokinetic parameters and therefore different in vivo effects. The isoforms are misidentified using conventional techniques such as gas or liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry - or tandem mass - spectrometry.

Characterization of H type 1 and type 1 -acetyllactosamine glycan epitopes on ovarian cancer specifically recognized by the anti-glycan monoclonal antibody mAb-A4.

Cancer-specific glycans of ovarian cancer are promising epitopes for targeting with monoclonal antibodies (mAb). Despite their potential, structural characterization of these glycan epitopes remains a significant challenge in mAb preclinical development. Our group generated the monoclonal antibody mAb-A4 against human embryonic stem cells (hESC), which also bound specifically to -glycans present on 11 of 19 ovarian cancer (OC) and 8 of 14 breast cancer cell lines tested.

Characterization of Yeasts and Filamentous Fungi using MALDI Lipid Phenotyping.

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) becomes the method of choice for the rapid identification of microorganisms (i.e. protein biotyping).

Axial spatial distribution focusing: improving MALDI-TOF/RTOF mass spectrometric performance for high-energy collision-induced dissociation of biomolecules.

Rationale: For the last two decades, curved field reflectron technology has been used in matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometers, assisting in the generation of post-source-decay (PSD) or collision-induced dissociation (CID) without decelerating precursor ions, producing true high-energy CID spectra. The result was the generation of product ion mass spectra with product ions typical of high-energy (10 keV and beyond) collision processes. The disadvantage of this approach was the lack of resolution in CID spectra resulting from the excess laser energy deposition used to generate those MS/MS spectra.