PNNL

Abstract

An electrospray ionization interface incorporating an electrodynamic ion funnel has been designed and implemented in conjunction with a linear ion trap mass spectrometer (Thermo Electron, LTQ). We found ion transmission to be greatly improved by replacing the standard capillary-skimmer interface with the capillary-ion funnel interface. An infusion study using a serial dilution of a reserpine solution showed that ion injection times to fill the ion trap were reduced by ~90% which resulted in an ~10-fold increase in reported peak intensities. In liquid chromatography (LC)-MS and LC tandem MS (MS/MS) experiments performed using a proteomic sample from the bacterium, Shewanella oneidensis, the ion funnel interface provided an ~7-fold reduction in ion injection (accumulation) times. In a series of LC-MS/MS experiments we found that more dilute S. oneidensis samples provided more peptide and protein identifications when the ion funnel interface was used in place of the standard interface. This improvement was most pronounced at lower sample concentrations, where extended ion accumulation times are required, resulting in an ~2-fold increase in the number of protein identifications. Implementation of the ion funnel interface with a LTQ Fourier transform (FT) MS requiring much greater ion populations resulted in spectrum acquisition times reduced by ~25 to 50%.