Crystallization of Arthrobacter sp. strain 1C N-(1-D-carboxyethyl)-L-norvaline dehydrogenase and its complex with NAD+

The novel NAD+-linked opine dehydrogenase from a soil isolate Arthrobacter sp. strain 1C belongs to an enzyme superfamily whose members exhibit quite diverse substrate specificites. Crystals of this opine dehydrogenase, obtained in the presence or absence of co-factor and substrates, have been shown to diffract to beyond 1.8 ? resolution. X-ray precession photographs have established that the crystals belong to space group P21212, with cell parameters a = 104.9, b = 80.0, c = 45.5 ? and a single subunit in the asymmetric unit. The elucidation of the three-dimensional structure of this enzyme will provide a structural framework for this novel class of dehydrogenases to enable a comparison to be made with other enzyme families and also as the basis for mutagenesis experiments directed towards the production of natural and synthetic opine-type compounds containing two chiral centres.     

Actinide bioassays by ICPMS

The ever-increasing sensitivity of ICPMS continues to expand the technique’s application in the field of health physics. Enhancements in sample introduction and instrument design over the last few years have resulted in improving the ICPMS detection limit from ∼10 ng/l to≤0.1 ng/l. This additional sensitivity provides greater flexibility in the analysis of long-lived radionuclides in biological fluids, and requires only minimal sample preparation of urine for uranium analysis; the described 3-minute abbreviated matrix separation provides detection limits that are comparable to or better than alpha counting. For urine samples tested having concentrations that exceed the accepted administrative limit for total uranium (0.2 μg/day), isotopic analysis by ICPMS (e.g., determining the presence of²³⁶U, or measuring appropriate uranium isotope ratios) provides a reliable indication of occupational exposure. Our laboratory also utilizes ICPMS in a study examining uranium dissolution rate classification of dust collected at the perimeter of a nuclear facility. Specific details regarding these and other health physics applications are featured, including our group’s participation in assisting the DOE with the evaluation of ICPMS as a cost-effective alternative to fission-track analysis for the routine determination of²³⁹Pu in urine.     

Simultaneous multichannel mass-specific detection for high-performance liquid chromatography using an array detector sector-field mass spectrometer

The use of a separation step, such as liquid chromatography, prior to inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP–MS) has become a common tool for highly selective and sensitive analyses. This type of coupling has several benefits including the ability to perform speciation analysis or to remove isobaric interferences. Several limitations of conventional instruments result from the necessity to scan or pulse the mass spectrometer to obtain a complete mass spectrum. When the instrument is operated in such a non-continuous manner, duty cycle is reduced, resulting in poorer absolute limits of detection. Additionally, with scanning instruments, spectral skew can be introduced into the measurement, limiting quantitation accuracy. To address these shortcomings, a high-performance liquid chromatograph has been coupled to an ICP–MS capable of continuous sample introduction and simultaneous multimass detection. These features have been realized with a novel detector array, the focal plane camera. Instrument performance has been tested for both speciation analysis and for the elimination of isobaric interferences. Absolute limits of detection in the sub picogram to tens of picograms regime are obtainable, while the added mass dimension introduced by simultaneous detection dramatically increases chromatographic peak capacity.     

How Constant Momentum Acceleration Decouples Energy and Space Focusing in Distance–of–Flight and Time–of–Flight Mass Spectrometries

Resolution in time–of–flight mass spectrometry (TOFMS) is ordinarily limited by the initial energy and space distributions within an instrument’s acceleration region and by the length of the field–free flight zone. With gaseous ion sources, these distributions lead to systematic flight–time errors that cannot be simultaneously corrected with conventional static–field ion–focusing devices (i.e., an ion mirror). It is known that initial energy and space distributions produce non–linearly correlated errors in both ion velocity and exit time from the acceleration region. Here we reinvestigate an old acceleration technique, constant–momentum acceleration (CMA), to decouple the effects of initial energy and space distributions. In CMA, only initial ion energies (and not their positions) affect the velocity ions gain. Therefore, with CMA, the spatial distribution within the acceleration region can be manipulated without creating ion–velocity error. The velocity differences caused by a spread in initial ion energy can be corrected with an ion mirror. We discuss here the use of CMA and independent focusing of energy and space distributions for both distance–of–flight mass spectrometry (DOFMS) and TOFMS. Performance characteristics of our CMA–DOFMS and CMA–TOFMS instrument, fitted with a glow–discharge ionization source, are described. In CMA–DOFMS, resolving powers (FWHM) of greater than 1000 are achieved for atomic ions with a flight length of 285 mm. In CMA–TOFMS, only ions over a narrow range of m/z values can be energy–focused; however, the technique offers improved resolution for these focused ions, with resolving powers of greater than 2000 for a separation distance of 350 mm.      

Radionuclide detection by ion-chromatography and on-line ICP/MS and beta detection: Fission product rare earth element measurements

Separation and analysis of²³⁵U fission produced rare earth elements (REE) is described. Rare earth elements were separated using a high presure ion chromatographic separation where by each rare earth is isolated and individually detected. Detection is performed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP/MS) and solid scintillation beta counting. The resulting detection methods allow complete evaluation of all stable (non-radioactive) and many radioactive REE fission products. The two detection methods (ICP/MS and Beta) illustrate how mass selective and radiometric data can be used to provide complimentary information regarding the isotopic characterization of radioactive samples.Pacific Northwest Laboratory is operated for the U.S. Department of Energy by Battelle Memorial Institute under Contract DE-AC06-76RLO 1830.     

21 Tesla Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometer Greatly Expands Mass Spectrometry Toolbox

We provide the initial performance evaluation of a 21 Tesla Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer operating at the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The spectrometer constructed for the 21T system employs a commercial dual linear ion trap mass spectrometer coupled to a FTICR spectrometer designed and built in-house. Performance gains from moving to higher magnetic field strength are exemplified by the measurement of peptide isotopic fine structure, complex natural organic matter mixtures, and large proteins. Accurate determination of isotopic fine structure was demonstrated for doubly charged Substance P with minimal spectral averaging, and 8158 molecular formulas assigned to Suwannee River Fulvic Acid standard with root-mean-square (RMS) error of 10 ppb. We also demonstrated superior performance for intact proteins; namely, broadband isotopic resolution of the entire charge state distribution of apo-transferrin (78 kDa) and facile isotopic resolution of monoclonal antibody under a variety of acquisition parameters (e.g., 6 s time-domains with absorption mode processing yielded resolution of approximately 1 M at m/z?=?2700).

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Distance-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry with IonCCD Detection and an Inductively Coupled Plasma Source

Distance-of-flight mass spectrometry (DOFMS) is demonstrated for the first time with a commercially available ion detector—the IonCCD camera. Because DOFMS is a velocity-based MS technique that provides spatially dispersive, simultaneous mass spectrometry, a position-sensitive ion detector is needed for mass-spectral collection. The IonCCD camera is a 5.1-cm long, 1-D array that is capable of simultaneous, multichannel ion detection along a focal plane, which makes it an attractive option for DOFMS. In the current study, the IonCCD camera is evaluated for DOFMS with an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) ionization source over a relatively short field-free mass-separation distance of 25.3–30.4 cm. The combination of ICP-DOFMS and the IonCCD detector results in a mass-spectral resolving power (FWHM) of approximately 900 and isotope-ratio precision equivalent to or slightly better than current ICP-TOFMS systems. The measured isotope-ratio precision in % relative standard deviation (%RSD) was ≥0.008%RSD for nonconsecutive isotopes at 10-ppm concentration (near the ion-signal saturation point) and ≥0.02%RSD for all isotopes at 1-ppm. Results of DOFMS with the IonCCD camera are also compared with those of two previously characterized detection setups.

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Zoom-TOFMS: addition of a constant-momentum-acceleration “zoom” mode to time-of-flight mass spectrometry

In this study, we demonstrate the performance of a new mass spectrometry concept called zoom time-of-flight mass spectrometry (zoom-TOFMS). In our zoom-TOFMS instrument, we combine two complementary types of TOFMS: conventional, constant-energy acceleration (CEA) TOFMS and constant-momentum acceleration (CMA) TOFMS to provide complete mass-spectral coverage as well as enhanced resolution and duty factor for a narrow, targeted mass region, respectively. Alternation between CEA- and CMA-TOFMS requires only that electrostatic instrument settings (i.e., reflectron and ion optics) and ion acceleration conditions be changed. The prototype zoom-TOFMS instrument has orthogonal-acceleration geometry, a total field-free distance of 43 cm, and a direct-current glow-discharge ionization source. Experimental results demonstrate that the CMA-TOFMS “zoom” mode offers resolution enhancement of 1.6 times over single-stage acceleration CEA-TOFMS. For the atomic mass range studied here, the maximum resolving power at full-width half-maximum observed for CEA-TOFMS was 1,610 and for CMA-TOFMS the maximum was 2,550. No difference in signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio was observed between the operating modes of zoom-TOFMS when both were operated at equivalent repetition rates. For a 10-kHz repetition rate, S/N values for CEA-TOFMS varied from 45 to 990 and from 67 to 10,000 for CMA-TOFMS. This resolution improvement is the result of a linear TOF-to-mass scale and the energy-focusing capability of CMA-TOFMS. Use of CMA also allows ions outside a given m/z range to be rejected by simple ion-energy barriers to provide a substantial improvement in duty factor. Figure

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Radionuclide detection by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry: A comparison of atomic and radiation detection methods

Radionuclide detection by mass spectrometric techniques offers inherent advantages over conventional radiation detection methods. Since radionuclides decay at variable rates (half-lives) and via various nuclear transformations (i.e. emission of alpha-, beta-, and/or gamma-radiation) their determination via radiation detection depends not only on decay systematics but also on detector technology. Radionuclide detection by directatom measurement, however, is dependent only on technique sensitivity and is indifferent to decay mode. Evaluation of inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP/MS) indicates this method to be superior to conventional radiation detection techniques for many radionuclides. This work discusses factors which influence detection by both methods. Illustrative applications of ICP/MS to the ultra-trace determination of several radionuclides, including¹²⁹I, are presented.Operated for the U.S. Department of Energy by Battelle Memorial Institute under contract De-AC06-76RLO 1830.