With a design based on proprietary ion funnel technology, this source is said to significantly improve the sensitivity and analysis speed of the mass spectrometry platform
Bruker Daltonics has announced the new Apollo II ESI source for its apex-Qe line of hybrid Q-q-FTMS mass spectrometers.
The design of the Apollo II source is based on advanced, proprietary ion funnel technology, and very significantly improves the sensitivity and analysis speed of the apex-Qe FTMS platform.
The result is said to be an order-of-magnitude improvement in sensitivity for all modes of FTMS accurate mass measurement, including FTMS, MS/FTMS, MS/FTMS(n), as well as LC/FTMS and LC/MS/FTMS.
The apex-Qe is an easy-to-use, robust FTMS system for ultra- high performance life-science mass spectrometry.
With Apollo II it now offers outstanding FTMS/MS sensitivity, resolution and mass accuracy, says Bruker.
In addition, the apex-Qe provides all the flexibility and structural tools of a real FTMS system in the analyser cell for detailed structural studies of protein modifications or post-translational modifications, or advanced structural work on small molecules, such a sugars, lipids or metabolites.
Unlike other hybrid FTMS instruments, which typically are dedicated to operate as FTMS/ITMS(n) ion trap systems, the company says the apex-Qe retains the superb resolution and mass accuracy of FTMS also for MS/MS and MS(n) studies.
Importantly, because of its Q-q-FTMS design philosophy, the apex-Qe can selectively isolate and accumulate ions in the FTMS analyser, in order to enrich their abundance for subsequent structural experiments.
This is a powerful tool for the analysis of any low abundance molecules, and particularly for studying post-translational modifications (PTMs) where accurate mass measurement on the MS/FTMS-fragments is essential for structural characterisation.
The new Apollo II source extends the selective ion enrichment mode down to even lower concentrations.
Paul Speir, assistant vice president for FTMS at Bruker Daltonics, explained: "The Apollo II source represents a huge leap in performance.
"I am confident that we have developed the most sensitive ESI source available on the market.
"Furthermore, this makes the apex-Qe an even more powerful and versatile 'real' FTMS instrument, not only for bottom-up proteomics, but importantly also for detailed structural studies on tryptic peptides, proteins and small molecules, as well as for enrichment studies on trace amounts, eg on biomarkers or natural products."
