Tandem neutral loss scan

The most common modes of operation for ms/ms systems include daughter scan, parent ion scan, neutral loss scan, and selected reaction monitoring. The mode chosen depends on the information required. Stmctural identification is generally obtained using daughter or parent ion scan. The mass analyzers commonly used in tandem systems include quadmpole, magnetic-sector, electric-sector, time-of-flight, and ion cyclotron resonance. Some instmments add a third analyzer such as the triple quadmpole ms (27). 

Figure 3.31 TIC traces for (a) a constant-neutral-loss scan of 42 Da, and (b) a pre-cursor-ion m/z 68 scan, obtained from the LC-MS analysis of a mixture of atrazine and its degradation products. Reprinted from J. Chromatogr., A, 915, Steen, R. J. C. A., Bobeldijk, I. and Brinkman, U. A. Th., Screening for transformation products of pesticides using tandem mass spectrometric scan modes , 129-137, Copyright (2001), with permission from Elsevier Science.

Figure 5.27 Selective detection of lactolated peptides from a tryptic digest of / -lacto-globulins by LC-electrospray-MS-MS, showing (a) the total-ion-cnrrent trace in full-scan mode, and (b) the total-ion-current trace in neutral-loss-scanning mode. Figure from Selective detection of lactolated peptides in hydrolysates by liquid chromatography/ electrospray tandem mass spectrometry , by Molle, D., Morgan, F., BouhaUab, S. and Leonil, J., in Analytical Biochemistry, Volume 259, 152-161, Copyright 1998, Elsevier Science (USA), reproduced with permission from the publisher.

Figure 14.1. Tandem mass spectra of amino acids. Top left panel shows the product ion spectra of the buylester of phenylalanine. Fragmentation that explains the neutral loss of 102 Da is shown in the top left panel of the figure. The bottom panel is a neutral loss scan from m/z 125 to 270 which includes many common amino acids. The profile is obtained by an analysis of a blood spot from a patient with PKU.

In addition to neutral loss scans, mass spectrometers can be used to detect other compounds in a different manner. Acylcamitines are fatty acid esters of carnitine. The masses of acylcamitines differ by the size of the fatty acid attached to it. The tandem mass spectrometer can detect these selectively as well because they all produce a similar product, in this case an ion rather than a molecule. Because it is an ion, it can be detected by the second mass separation device. The ion has a mass of 85 Da and is common to all acylcamitines. Performing a precursor ion scan of 85 Da (essentially a scan of only molecules that produce the 85 ion) reveals a selective analysis of acylcar-nitines, as shown in Fig. 14.2. Additional scans have been added to more selectively detect basic amino acids, free carnitine, short chain acylcamitines and a hormone, thyroxin (T4) which has amino acid components. 

What are the three most common tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) scan modes (product ion scan, precursor ion scan, constant neutral loss scan). 

Tandem mass spectrometry (MS-MS) is a term which covers a number of techniques in which one stage of mass spectrometry, not necessarily the first, is used to isolate an ion of interest and a second stage is then used to probe the relationship of this ion with others from which it may have been generated or which it may generate on decomposition. The two stages of mass spectrometry are related in specific ways in order to provide the desired analytical information. There are a large number of different MS-MS experiments that can be carried out [9, 10] but the four most widely used are (i) the product-ion scan, (ii) the precursor-ion scan, (iii) the constant-neutral-loss scan, and (iv) selected decomposition monitoring. 

Another technological development in tandem mass spectrometry is the combination of two TOP mass spectrometers, TOF/TOK These instruments have excellent sensitivity and throughput for MALDI-MS/MS and are especially suited for proteomics research. However, these instruments are unable to perform true precursor ion scans or constant neutral loss scans. The Bruker Daltonics ultra-flex and Applied Biosystem 4700 proteomics analyzer are examples of this type of instrument, Such mstruments have yet to make an impact in clinical chemistry. 

So-called hybrid mass spectrometers include a combination of two different types of mass spectrometers in a tandem arrangement. The combination of a magnetic sector mass spectrometer with a quadrupole mass spectrometer was an early instrument of this type. More popular is the combination of a quadrupole for MSI and a TOF for MS2, As with TOF/TOF, these instruments are presently used mainly for proteomics research but could eventually find applications in the clinical lab. These mstruments are unable to perform true precursor ion scans or constant neutral loss scans. Commercial examples of this type of instrument include the qTOF by Waters Micromass and the QSTAR by Apphed Biosystems/MDS Sciex. 

Figure 7 Scan modes for a tandem-in-space instrument, the triple quadruple (QqQ). (a) Full scan all source ions are passed through to Q3 while Q1 and q (collision cell) are set to the RF-only mode, (b) Production scan Qi is set to pass a selected ion (precursor ion). This is fragmented in the collision cell and products are analyzed by scanning Q3. (c) Precursor scan Q1 scans all the source ions into the collision cell for collision-induced dissociation (CID). Q3 is set to pass a selected product ion. A signal recorded at Q3 is correlated with the corresponding precursor ion passing through Q-i. (d) Neutral loss scan Q-i is set to scan ions into the collision cell for CID. The Q3 scan is offset by a specified mass, equal to the mass of the neutral, relative to Qi. (e) Selected reaction monitoring (SRM) an ion selected in Q1 is fragmented and a specific fragment is then recorded after selection by Q3. SRM is commonly used in quantitative work to improve assay selectivity and sensitivity.

Triple quadrupole mass spectrometers can perform tandem mass scan experiments in various modes including product ion (MS/MS), precursor ion, and neutral loss scan and SRM experiments, but they cannot be used for sequential MS" experiments. The high sensitivity and specificity, in the SRM mode, have made triple quadrupole mass spectrometers a logical choice for metabolic stability experiments performed at relevant substrate concentrations. Despite the sensitivity of the triple quadrupole mass spectrometers, when an NCE or an NCE series exhibit unacceptable PK properties, metabolite identification studies are often initiated as follow-up studies in a separate set of experiments using incubation concentrations higher than the Km of an NCE. Incubations at higher concentrations are required because conventional metabolite identification experiments required operation of the triple quadrupole mass spectrometer in the full-scan mode, which results in poor duty cycle and diminished sensitivity [287,288],... 

MS, especially in combination with advanced separation techniques, is one of the most powerful and versatile techniques for the structural analysis of bacterial glycomes. Modern mass spectral ionization techniques such as electrospray (ESI) and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) provide detection limits in the high atto- to low femto-mole range for the identification of peptides and complex carbohydrates. Structural characterization of these trace level components can be achieved using tandem MS. This provides a number of specific scanning functions such as product, precursor ion, and constant neutral loss scanning to... 

Neutral loss scan mode involves introducing a fixed mass offset to Qj and Q3. Qj and Q3 are scanned in tandem, maintaining... 

In addition to MRM, the other scan modes available on a QqQ have occasionally been used for residue analysis as well. A precursor ion scan can be used to identify precursor ions from a product ion, and therefore to identify analytes and metabolites or impurities, which generate the same product ion, in complex matrices. For example, erythromycin B was identified in yogurt using this function. In this application, Q3 was held constant to measure a fragment ion at m/z 158, which is a typical product ion of compounds or impurities related to erythromycin A with a desosamine residue. Q1 was then scanned over an appropriate range, from which a precursor ion at m/z 718 was detected. The latter was identified as erythromycin B, which was an impurity in the erythromycin fermentation product. Constant neutral loss scan, which has rare applications for antibiotic analysis, records spectra that show all the precursor ions that have fragmented by the loss of a specific neutral mass. In this instance, both Q1 and Q3 scan together with a constant mass offset between the two quadrupoles. Both precursor ion and constant neutral loss scans can be performed only with ion beam tandem in-space mass spectrometers. 

Figure 2.2 Scan types utilized in lipidomic analysis by ESl-MS/MS. An MS/MS instrument consists of an initial mass (m/z) analyzer (MSi), a collision cell, and a second mass (m/z) analyzer (MSj). The two mass (m/z) analyzers and collision cell are separated in space on a beam instrument, such as tandem quadrupoles and Q-TOFs, and in time in ion traps. Product-ion, precursor-ion, and neutral-loss scans are performed by respectively scanning MSj, MSj, or MSj and MS2 in parallel. Multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) chromatograms are recorded with MSj and MSj fixed for transitions of interest. MS or MS/MS/MS spectra are recorded when a third mass (m/z) analyzer MS3 is utilized following a second collision cell. MS and further MS" spectra are often recorded on ion-trap instruments.

Neutral-Loss Scan This procedure is similar to precursor-ion scanning except that it monitors a characteristic neutral loss using a triple-quadrupole tandem instrument. All three types of O-phosphorylated peptides exhibit the loss of 98... 

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