Section on Metabolic Analysis and Mass Spectrometry

Head: Alfred L. Yergey

The long-term objective of this Section is the characterization and understanding of the energetic basis of the interactions between water and its biological solutes. We hypothesize that these interactions play a major and perhaps a dominant role in the ordering of the structures of proteins and membranes. As such, this problem lies at the heart of biochemistry, and is being addressed by determining the energetics of the processes responsible for the entry of isolated molecules into aqueous solution, i.e., by measuring hydration thermodynamics. We are using the method of equilibrium gas phase ion molecule chemistry to measure the successive equilibrium constants for water molecules clustering with gas phase ions. A second objective of the Section is to characterize proteins and peptides with respect to molecular weight, post-translational modification, changes in primary structure and purity. In this work, electrospray and MALDI ionization prior to mass analysis are coupled with modern sample isolation and manipulation techniques. This aspect of the Section\’s work operates collaboratively and as a service for investigators in NICHD.

Resources

• Employee Listing
• E-Mail the Lab: aly@helix.nih.gov