Selected reaction monitoring (SRM) is one of the most sensitive and reproducible applications of biological mass spectrometry. In contrast to global omics methods which measure many things a few times, SRM and MRM (multiple reaction monitoring), are used to measure one, or a few things, many times. The ABAC houses a highly sensitive Agilent 6495 Triple Quadrupole mass spectrometer that is used for targeted quantitative analysis of peptides and small molecules. It is equipped with both an ultra high performance liquid chromatography system (UHPLC) and a robotic autosampler, the RapidFire, for high-throughput analysis.
In low throughput mode, the system uses the Agilent 1290 UHPLC, a state-of-the-art device capable of operating at ultra-high pressures (up to 1200 bar / 17,400 psi) allowing high quality separation in reduced times.
For high throughput analysis the system uses a robotic autosampler and solid-phase extraction device (SPE), the RapidFire, to perform individual analyes in as little as 10 sec. To achieve this speed the RapidFire replaces full chromatographic separation with reusable SPE cartridges and bind, wash, elute cycles. It can accommodate both 96- and 384-well plates and can perform thousands of unattended analyses in a day. Diverse SPE chemistries enable the analysis of a wide range of analytes.
