Neutral mass spectrometry of virus capsids above 100 megadaltons with nanomechanical resonators.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 30467165.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1126/science.aat6457.
- No licence information is recorded for this record.
- Because redistribution is not established, this page shows the abstract only. Follow the links below for the full text.
Abstract
Measurement of the mass of particles in the mega- to gigadalton range is challenging with conventional mass spectrometry. Although this mass range appears optimal for nanomechanical resonators, nanomechanical mass spectrometers often suffer from prohibitive sample loss, extended analysis time, or inadequate resolution. We report on a system architecture combining nebulization of the analytes from solution, their efficient transfer and focusing without relying on electromagnetic fields, and the mass measurements of individual particles using nanomechanical resonator arrays. This system determined the mass distribution of ~30-megadalton polystyrene nanoparticles with high detection efficiency and effectively performed molecular mass measurements of empty or DNA-filled bacteriophage T5 capsids with masses up to 105 megadaltons using less than 1 picomole of sample and with an instrument resolution above 100.
Medical subject headings
- Capsid
- Mass Spectrometry
- Nanotechnology