Join Us
Sign up for our feature-packed newsletter today to ensure you get the latest expert help and advice to level up your lab work.
Mass spectrometry molecular separation via mass/charge (m/z) ratios. Each of the various ionization approaches excels in targeting different molecule types. Understanding these techniques can help you pick the optimal ionization method to “make your molecules fly” and reveal their unique mass spectra. Read this article to learn more.
Metabolic pathways include all the chemical reactions in an organism that sustain biological function, and metabolic tracing lets us study them. This article explains what metabolic tracing is, the isotopes used for different types of study, and how to incorporate isotopes into samples.
There are several great protein staining methods, but how do you pick the one that’s appropriate to your intended application? Read on to find out.
Mass spectrometry can feel intimidating. Read this easy-to-follow guide to demystify mass spectrometry and learn how it can help your research.
Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (or simply, MALDI) is a type of mass spectrometry method. If you are new to mass spectrometry, check out our excellent primers, titled How Does Mass Spec Work and Get Out of Western Blot Hell: An intro to Mass Spec. Basically, however, mass spectrometry allows you to measure, sort, and quantify small…
It is currently possible to analyze thousands of proteins in a single sample using mass spectrometry (MS) and a database of predicted protein sequences, referred to as ‘bottom-up’ proteomics. With this technology, you can measure protein levels and interactions. Also, you can examine changes in post-translational modifications (PTMs) and isoforms (in an unbiased manner). Working with…
Have you ever wondered how to make professional, easy-to-understand figures of molecules for presentations or publications? While several programs exist for this purpose, ChemDraw is like the Swiss Army knife of chemical sketching programs that most chemists and journals use to prepare figures. Beyond the ability to create chemically accurate and legible figures, ChemDraw can…
New ways to perform PCR emerge all the time. This speaks for the speed of technological advances, and reflects the ongoing need to keep up with fast-moving research. We all know that PCR’s main purpose is to amplify a stretch of nucleic acids based on sequence-specific primers. Nowadays, a wide range of PCR techniques exist,…
Through many trials, and lots of error, I learned that there are many considerations for mass spectrometry that might not be obvious to you as a molecular biologist. Common contaminants, even in small quantities, can mask important peaks in your mass spec data and have a huge impact on the final results.
Mass Spec is all about getting the perfect peaks. Without a good peak assigning the correct mass is impossible and you cannot make accurate identifications. Make sure you know how to adjust your MALDI-TOF instrument parameters to achieve your perfect peak. In our previous posts ‘How does Mass Spec Work’ and ‘Imaging Mass Spectrometry: the…
IMS is a rapidly advancing technique that nicely blends the best bits of mass spectrometry with microscopic imaging. Learn more about it and how it could be applied to your work.
After you finish immunoprecipitating a protein or purifying a subcellular compartment, you need to identify what proteins you purified. You could attempt to identify your purified proteins the old fashioned (and slow!) way by running a multitude of Western blot. But rarely do labs have unlimited funds for Western blot antibodies. And lets face it,…
You spent the last few weeks tweaking your Co-immunoprecipitation conditions, testing different antibody/bead combinations, and sampling a panaply of solutions and FINALLY! You have your Co-immunoprecipitation (Co-IP) elution… Now what? Well, you have a few choices. It really all depends on what you need know about the proteins in your elution. Do you need to identify…
The eBook with top tips from our Researcher community.