Created: 8th September 1998, last updated: 9th September 1998, © 1998 ABRF
Mass Spectrometry Research Group
Since its inception in 1996, the Mass Spectrometry Research Group (MSRG) has been involved in two successful interlaboratory studies, reported at the 1997 and 1998 annual meetings, and most recently in a short course scheduled to be given immediately prior to the main meeting at ABRF ‘99. The results for both interlaboratory studies suggested that the comfort level with mass spectrometry varied widely among member labs, and that much work remains to be done in terms of properly integrating this technology into laboratories that are already expert in more established methods of biopolymer analysis. As MS instrumentation continues to become cheaper, smaller and easier to operate and maintain, the demands on the operator will continue to shift more in the direction of sample cleanup, preparation and data interpretation.
The MSRG recognizes that basic instrument operation issues are very much a concern with so many people new to using mass spectrometry. To help with this transition, the MSRG will be putting on a series of short courses that will deal with various topics such as interpretation of peptide fragmentation data, basic instrument operation including tuning and mass calibration, and other topics. We are fortunate to have Professor Donald F. Hunt from the University of Virginia present his short course "Protein and Peptide Sequence Analysis by Tandem Mass Spectrometry" on March 17-19, 1999 in Durham, NC. Fliers for the course are being sent out with announcements for the ABRF ‘99 meeting. Seating will be available for 100 people, but interested parties are encouraged to sign up early. There will be no on-site registration for this short course. Plans for the Seattle meeting are still being discussed informally, but will likely include a short course dealing with basics of mass spectrometry instrumentation.
The MSRG will also participate in interlaboratory validation studies with other ABRF Research Groups, but hopes to work with these groups to minimize the number of test samples.