The annual American Society for Mass Spectrometry (ASMS) conference was once again marked by a robust technical program and multiple new product releases. Held this year in San Antonio, Texas, registration for the conference totaled 6,267, up 2.9% from last year, when the conference was held in St. Louis, Missouri (see IBO 6/15/15).

One of the themes of company press conferences was integrated workflows, which are designed to make complex proteomics and biotherapeutics workflows easier to use and thus more accessible. The capability of software to make analyses easier, faster and more flexible was also highlighted. SCIEX and Thermo Fisher Scientific showed an expanded range of cloud-based MS software. Application areas touched upon by numerous companies were antibody drug conjugates, metabolomics and multi-omics.

Instruments

Waters debuted the Xevo TQ-XS triple quadrupole MS system, its fourth Xevo system, which is designed to expand access to triple quadrupole technology to a broader range of molecules, including compounds that are challenging to analyze with LC/MS, such as amphetamine and aldosterone. It is designed to expand high sensitivity to a wider range of users and includes easier method transfer. The system includes the new StepWave XS ion guide for increased signal to noise. It also includes tool-free ESI and APCI probes and the XDR Detector for wider dynamic range, previously available on the Xevo TQ-S. Waters also unveiled the UniSpray ionization source, an all-in-one ESI, APCI and APPI source for wider compound coverage with the same instrument configuration. The system begins shipping this month.

Bruker introduced the rapifleX MALDI PharmaPulse Solution, a MALDI TOF/TOF MS system for label-free ultra-HTS drug discovery, including primary screens, as well as MALDI imaging. The system features 10 kHz laser technology, an integrated microplate changer, and robotics from HighRes Biosolutions. It can screen 1,536 samples in less than eight minutes. Bruker claimed it is faster and results in greater solvent savings compared to LC/SPE-MS HTS solutions.

Thermo Fisher Scientific’s main instrument introduction was the Thermo Scientific Q Exactive BioPharma MS/MS Hybrid Quadrupole-Orbitrap mass spectrometer, which combines the Q Exactive Plus and the Q Exactive HF Hybrid Quadrupole-Orbitrap MS systems with BioPharma Finder 2.0 software. It is designed to perform three workflows that previously required separate systems: denatured and native MS intact analysis, subunit and top/middle-down analysis, and peptide mapping. The new High Mass Range mode, with a scanning range up to 8,000 m/z, is for enhanced analysis of intact monoclonal antibodies and antibody-drug conjugates under both native intact and denatured intact conditions. The system is currently shipping.

Thermo Fisher Scientific also previewed 908 Devices’ ZipChip microfluidics CE inlet technology, which features built-in ESI. It will be available for the Thermo Scientific Exactive Series, Q Exactive Series and LTQ Orbitrap Hybrid FT MS. The ZipChip HS is designed for analyzing small molecule and peptide mapping. The ZipChip HR analyzes large molecules. Applications include bioprocess QC.

Agilent Technologies announced a product update of its 8900 triple quadrupole ICP-MS system, featuring an extended mass range, faster detector response, and four-channel cell gas control. The company also introduced the second generation of its JetClean technology, a GC/MS add on for self-cleaning of the ion space, reducing system downtime. It is now available on all Agilent single quadrupole and triple quadrupole GC/MS systems, and is available as an upgrade.

Shimadzu Scientific Instruments showcased many of its recent MS-related product introductions (see IBO 3/15/16, 5/31/16) and also introduced the LCMS-8045 triple quadrupole system, a lower mid-tier model in its family of four triple quadrupole MS systems. It includes additions to the LCMS-8040, including a standard heated source, and updated ion sampling device and collision cell technology. It is expected to ship in the US later this year.

SCIEX introduced its QTRAP 6500+ LC/MS/MS System,which now integrates with the BioBA (Biologics BioAnalysis) solution, introduced last year. The new system features the new IonDrive High Energy Detector+ for increased quantitation, and the SelexION+ ion mobility technology for greater selectivity. The system is currently shipping. The company also showcased its X500R Q-TOF system for routine testing, launched last year.

Phytronix launched its next generation Luxon Ion Source for laser diode thermal desorption, enabling sample analysis in under one second. The redesigned system is now on casters with hydraulic adjustment. In addition, it is now compatible with an automated robotic arm for continuous operation and employs a new fiber-coupled optic. Applications include high-throughput screening and toxicology.

Adeptrix introduced its Bead-Assisted Mass Spectrometry (BAMS) technology for bead-based multiplex affinity extraction and MS analysis. Suspended bead arrays are deposited on the PicoPlate, a microplate with thousands of wells, with one bead and one antibody per well. The PicoPlate is analyzed using MALDI TOF MS and also supports analysis by fluorescence imaging.

Workflows

New workflows encompassed not only an optimized combination of instruments, consumables and software for specific applications but, in some cases, automation as well. For example, Bruker debuted a HDX (Hydrogen Deuterium Exchange) Solution, which combines LEAP Technologies’ LEAP H/D- X PAL autosampler, UHPLC, the maXis II ETD UHR-QTOF MS and Sierra Analytics’ HD Examiner software.

SCIEX also highlighted complete workflows. Its BioBA Solution now includes the SCIEX M3 MicroLC, Beckman Coulter Biomek FXP Laboratory Automation Workstation for automated sample preparation and the BioBA Certification Program for training. The Next-Generation Proteomics platform (NGP) includes the TripleTOF 6600 System, Beckman Coulter Biomek NX system, Protein Preparation Kits, Microflow SWATH Acquisition, SWATH Performance Kits, and the cloud-based OneOmics AutoUploader and SWATH to MRM Builder.

As an example of the capabilities of integrated workflows, Phil Robinson, PhD, at the SCIEX press conference discussed the launch of the Australian Cancer Research Foundation’s Center for the Proteome of Human Cancer (ProCan), a SCIEX Centre of Innovation in Precision Medicine. ProCan aims to bring proteomics analysis to cancer diagnostics by correlating protein expression patterns with other omics data, pathology and clinical outcomes. It also aims to “industrialize proteomics.” The workflow will utilize Pressure Biosciences’ Pressure Cycling Technology, microflow LC, the SCIEX 6600 SWATH system, and data analysis using SCIEX’s Cloud Connect. The five-to-seven year project will analyze 70,000 samples to create a publicly available database. Patient samples will be analyzed in 24–36 hours.

Agilent announced two GC/MS products that consist of integrated instrumentation, consumables and software: the Arsine/Phosphine GC/SQ Analyzer for the analysis of high purity ethylene and propylene, and the Water Screener GC/SQ Analyzers for analyzing more than one thousand pollutants.

Agilent and Thermo Fisher Scientific also highlighted dedicated application kits. Agilent announced the release of two new workflows for its AssayMAP Bravo platform for phosphopeptide enrichment and rapid protein digestion. Thermo Fisher Scientific highlighted a new Protein-Protein Cross Linking kit as part of a dedicated workflow for the analysis of protein interactions. The company also debuted the TMT (Tandem Mass Tag) sixplex and TMT10plex for its TMT workflow for multiplex quantitative proteomics.

Software

ACD/Labs launched the MetaSense metabolite identification platform for metabolic transformation prediction. The data format–agnostic platform is designed to automate LC/MS data gathering and processing. The resulting biotransformation map connects live spectra and chromatograms with individual metabolite structures, or partially identified structures, in full context and with easier data review.

New databases included the Bruker MetaboBASE Personal Library, an extension of its spectra library with more than 13,000 metabolic compounds. Waters announced the Metabolic Profiling CCS (Collision Cross-Section) Library for IMS with over 900 measurements.

Faster and more flexible data analysis options were evident in new software introductions Waters announced the Symphony Data Pipeline Software, which saves time by copying raw files to a remote computer during column conditioning. SCIEX released BioPharmaView 2.0, which can now process SWATH Acquisition data and includes automated drug-to-antibody ratio calculations. Thermo Fisher Scientific introduced the Compound Discoverer 2.0 for untargeted and targeted workflows using Orbitrap MS data, and BioPharma Finder for peptide digest and intact protein analysis.

2016 ASMS Product of the Show

IBO has selected Bruker’s timsTOF (trapped ion mobility spectrometry) MS system as the most significant product introduction at ASMS 2016 for its technology impact. The system marks the company’s entry into the IMS-MS market. IMS is an gas phase ion separation technique used for structure elucidation. As Christian Bleiholder, PhD, of Florida State University, explained at Bruker’s press conference, the changes in structure measured by IMS can be used to analyze aggregation state, ligand binding events, conformational changes and structural isomers.

As Bruker explained, by using a trap device for IMS with up to 100% duty cycle, its IMS technology enables resolving power as high as 200 in a compact footprint. Designed as a front end for Bruker’s ESI-QTOF systems, the system also features imeX technology for adjustable ion mobility resolution, and it can provide absolute collision cross section measurements. Additionally, a trapped ion can be monitored for structural changes over time. The system also features an open source data format. The TimsTOF is currently shipping.