Thermo Fisher Scientific has recently been awarded the prestigious Lab Innovation Award for their groundbreaking Thermo Scientific™ Stellar™ mass spectrometer. This accolade, in the category of Best Technology Innovation, highlights the Stellar mass spectrometer’s transformative impact on translational omics research, enabling breakthrough discoveries at an unprecedented scale.
The Stellar mass spectrometer: revolutionizing translational omics research
Introduced at the American Society for Mass Spectrometry (ASMS) conference earlier this year, the Stellar mass spectrometer stands out for its ability to significantly advance translational omics research. This field encompasses genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and more, aiming to apply large-scale biological data to practical use cases that enhance human health.
The Stellar mass spectrometer completes a crucial step in the translational research workflow. It complements the Thermo Scientific™ Orbitrap™ Astral™ mass spectrometer, which is ideal for discovering new biomarkers by verifying these biomarkers in clinical research. Whether it’s peptides, metabolites, or lipids, the Stellar mass spectrometer ensures accurate verification, thus accelerating the journey from discovery to clinical application.
Unprecedented analytical capabilities
The Stellar mass spectrometer combines the robust quantitative performance of triple-quadrupole technology with the sensitive, hyper-fast full-scan MSn acquisition of dual-pressure linear ion trap technology. This synergy extends its analytical capabilities across a wide range of compounds, making it a versatile tool for various research needs.
Key features and benefits:
- Ultimate quantitative performance: The Stellar mass spectrometer offers unparalleled quantitative performance for a wide range of compound classes. It supports general omics research, increasing target capacity and dynamic range, and is particularly effective in complex biological samples like plasma proteomics.
- Increased sensitivity and specificity: The high-capacity transfer tube and advanced active ion beam guide enhance sensitivity and reduce noise, ensuring high-quality data. The electrodynamic ion funnel further boosts ion transfer efficiency, making the Stellar mass spectrometer ideal for analysing low-level samples and labile compounds.
- High throughput: The Stellar mass spectrometer ‘s fast, full scan tMS2 acquisition capabilities allow researchers to process samples at four times the usual speed without compromising on sensitivity. This results in the accurate quantitation of over 100 endogenous amino acids and acylcarnitines in just two minutes and the processing of 96-well plates in nine hours.
Dynamic instrument control: The integrated software ecosystem, including the Thermo Scientific™ Xcalibur™ software, simplifies instrument operation and maximises sample throughput. This seamless integration ensures that researchers can confidently stratify biomarkers during verification.
Innovative technology driving productivity
The Stellar mass spectrometer’s innovative technology is designed to drive productivity and expand experimental capacity in several ways:
- Synchronized ion management: By managing ion packets between two ion traps, the Stellar mass spectrometer achieves acquisition rates up to 140 Hz with high sensitivity and specificity. This enables faster transition from biomarker discovery to validation.
- Adaptive RT routine: This feature automatically manages real-time retention time adjustments for each tMS2 acquisition cycle, ensuring high data quality and quantitative accuracy across a wide dynamic range.
- PRM conductor software: This tool streamlines method creation by leveraging discovery data, aligning the UHPLC system and Stellar mass spectrometer operation, and managing data acquisition. This automation simplifies the development of efficient and reliable multiplexed targeted quantitative experiments.
Expanding the experimental scale
The Stellar mass spectrometer is designed to handle the expanded scale required for translational research. It enables the quantitative characterisation of multiple signalling pathways in one experiment while maintaining high throughput. With the ability to reproducibly quantify almost 9,000 surrogate peptide markers representing nearly 2,000 proteins in 60 minutes, the Stellar mass spectrometer covers a wide dynamic range, ensuring comprehensive data quality.
Examples of some of the applications:
- Single cell sensitivity: The Stellar mass spectrometer ‘s enhanced sensitivity allows for targeted signalling pathway analysis in single cells, covering a wide expression-level range. This is crucial for low-input sample analysis, ensuring high confidence in quantitative results.
- Phosphopeptide quantitation: The Stellar mass spectrometer excels in quantifying phosphopeptides, even in complex biological matrices. Its rapid tMS3 acquisition speeds and automated method creation through the PRM Conductor software tool increase specificity and detection limits, enabling simultaneous quantitation of multiple analytes in one spectrum.
Characterisation of isomeric triglycerides: The Stellar mass spectrometer’s MS3 fragmentation provides the specificity needed to separate and quantify isomeric triglycerides, which is critical for health assessments. This capability enhances the analysis of complex lipid classes, reducing sample turnaround time.
The game changer
Thermo Fisher’s Stellar mass spectrometer is a game-changer in the field of translational omics research. By combining advanced technological innovations with practical applications, the Stellar mass spectrometer empowers researchers to make faster, more accurate scientific discoveries. This, in turn, will lead to improved patient outcomes and a deeper understanding of complex biological systems.
The recognition of the Stellar mass spectrometer with the Lab Innovation Award underscores its significant impact on the scientific community. The Stellar MS not only sets a new standard in mass spectrometry but also paves the way for future innovations in the field. For more information about the Stellar Mass spectrometer and its capabilities, visit thermofisher.com/stellar.
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