Acoustic Mist Ionization Platform for Direct and Contactless Ultrahigh-Throughput Mass Spectrometry Analysis of...

Area of Science:

• Analytical Chemistry
• Biochemistry
• Drug Discovery

Background:

• Mass spectrometry (MS) is a powerful quantitative detection technology for drug discovery.
• Current liquid sample introduction methods for MS are slow, hindering kinetic and high-throughput applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel interface for rapid sample introduction into mass spectrometers.
• To enhance the throughput and efficiency of mass spectrometry in drug discovery applications.

Main Methods:

• Development of an acoustic mist ionization (AMI) interface for contactless nanoliter-scale sample infusion.
• Integration of plate handling automation for high-throughput sample processing.
• Application of AMI-MS to screen a large library of small molecules for enzyme inhibitors.

Main Results:

• The AMI interface allows sample infusion at rates of up to three samples per second.
• Automated AMI-MS achieved a throughput of 100,000 samples per day on a single mass spectrometer.
• AMI-MS successfully identified inhibitors of human histone deacetylase and measured their half-maximal inhibitory concentrations.

Conclusions:

• The AMI interface offers significant improvements in speed, sensitivity, simplicity, and sample volume efficiency for mass spectrometry.
• This technology has the potential to greatly impact various fields of basic and applied research, particularly in drug discovery.
• AMI-MS enables rapid screening of large compound libraries, accelerating the identification of potential therapeutic agents.