Booster-microchannel plate (BMCP) detector for signal amplification in MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry for ions beyond m/z 50 000

Booster-microchannel plate (BMCP) detector for signal amplification in MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry for ions beyond m/z 50 000

Citation

Haugg, S., Creydt, M., Zierold, R., Fischer, M., & Blick, R. H. (2023). Booster-microchannel plate (BMCP) detector for signal amplification in MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry for ions beyond m/z 50 000. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 25, 7312. 

Keywords

  • MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry
  • booster-microchannel plate (BMCP) detector
  • signal amplification
  • high-mass ions

Brief

This article presents a simple modification to conventional microchannel plate (MCP) detectors for MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry, which amplifies ion signals and allows for the improved detection of large biomolecules, such as proteins up to m/z 150,000. 

Summary

The 2023 Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics article "Booster-microchannel plate (BMCP) detector for signal amplification in MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry for ions beyond m/z 50 000" by Stefanie Haugg, Marina Creydt, Robert Zierold, Markus Fischer, and Robert H. Blick introduces a novel booster-microchannel plate (BMCP) detector that amplifies signals from ions in matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry.

The conventional microchannel plate (MCP) detector struggles to efficiently detect high-mass biomolecules because the detection efficiency of MCP detectors decreases as ion velocity decreases. The BMCP detector addresses this limitation by placing two circular electrodes with negative voltages in front of the MCP detector. This setup affects the positively charged ions before they hit the MCP, potentially by both boosting ion velocity and influencing ion optics.

Through experiments with various electrode voltages and distances, the authors found that a medium distance between the electrodes resulted in the greatest signal amplification. The BMCP detector with this configuration amplified the signal intensity by a factor of 24.3 for singly charged bovine serum albumin (BSA) ions (m/z 66,400) and 10.7 for singly charged immunoglobulin G (IgG) ions (m/z 150,000) compared to a conventional MCP detector. The amplification factor generally increased with higher negative voltage applied to the booster electrodes.

The study demonstrated that the BMCP detector could offer a simple and effective way to improve the detection of high-mass molecules in MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. The authors suggest that this concept could also be applied to the analysis of other high-mass substances like polymers and dendrimers. 

Origin: https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2023/cp/d2cp02361j
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