Mass Spectrometry
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Q Exactive HF
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In 2016, we acquired this quadrupole-Orbitrap with an ultra-high-field analyzer as part of the Z project of SFB 1177 (Molecular and Functional Characterization of Selective Autophagy). It provides high sensitivity and acquisition speed for complex samples, especially in conjunction with the hyphenated UHPLC which allows the use of smaller column particles and longer columns due to higher pressure resistance of the fluidics (up to 1200 bar).
Orbitrap Fusion LUMOS
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Since November 2018, the unit houses an Orbitrap Fusion Lumos mass spectrometer, which was partially funded by the DFG (FUGG 161/922-1). This so-called “Tribrid”-MS, adding a third mass analyzer (ion trap) to the above-mentioned quadrupole-Orbitrap configuration, allows us to perform SPS-MS3 analyses providing increased accuracy for TMT-based quantitative proteomics experiments. As for the Q Exactive HF, it is coupled to an EASY nLC 1200 for high sensitivity chromatographic separations.
Orbitrap ASCEND
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The Orbitrap ASCEND mass spectrometer was installed in December 2022 as the first of its kind in Central Europe. It is the latest addition to the “Tribrid”-MS family, providing increased sensitivity and scan speed and allows us to couple the SPS-MS3 analyses with real-time database searches further improving proteome coverage and/or instrument time efficiency as well as quantification accuracy in TMT-based experiments. Moreover, the front end can be equipped with a High Field Asymetric Waveform Ion Mobility Spectrometry (FAIMS) interface removing background noise and adding another dimension of separation for decreased isolation interference. High sensitive and robust chromatographic peptide separation from nano- to microliter flow rates is achieved with a VanquishNeo UPLC.
This LC-MS system was funded by the European Fonds for regional development as part of the reaction of the EU to the COVID-19-Pandemic. (EFRE) 2014 bis 2020 (IWB-EFRE-Programm Hessen) – 20008763.
Two DIONEX U3000 HPLC
(one analytical, one micro) with fraction collection option
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Used to prefractionate peptides using highPh-reversed phase chromatography for increased coverage of identified proteins and PTM-sites in proteomics samples.
If you wish to set up a new collaboration with us, or are planning mass spectrometry experiments as part of the SFB 1177, always contact us before starting the experiments.
Members of the SFB 1177 with projects requiring MS analysis should contact our service platform team for a first consultation via email. Afterwards, please register to MS Portal and complete the sample submission form.
For external researchers use of the MS platform is possible on the basis of collaboration. Please contact Christian Münch or one of the IBC2 group leaders with whom you wish to collaborate directly to discuss the options.
Dr. Bhavesh Parmar
Bhavesh developed interest in mass spectrometry based proteomics during his Masters thesis with Prof. Mark Molloy at Macquarie University, Australia in 2013. Following that, he honed his skills by working as a Proteomics Technical Assistant at Centre for Molecular Platforms, India and as a Junior Research Fellow at InStem, India between 2014 and 2017. He began his PhD endeavor in 2017, in KU Leuven, working on proteomic discovery of novel genomic open reading frames in C. elegans with Prof. Liesbet Temmerman. He joined Münch Lab in March 2022 as a post-doctorate researcher.
Prof. Dr. Christian Münch
Christian Münch is endowed Lichtenberg-Professor of Molecular Systems Medicine. He studied Biochemistry at the University of Tübingen and the Max Planck Institutes in Martinsried and Tübingen (Germany). He obtained his PhD from the University of Cambridge (UK), working on protein aggregation and prion-like processes in neurodegenerative diseases with Anne Bertolotti at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology. For his postdoctoral work, Christian joined Wade Harper’s laboratory at Harvard Medical School to study cellular protein quality control and the mitochondrial unfolded protein response.
In 2016, Christian became independent group leader and head of the Quantitative Proteomics Unit at the Institute of Biochemistry II (Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany). His main research interests focus on cellular stress responses to mitochondrial protein misfolding, infection and disease. Besides biochemical and molecular biology methods, his laboratory applies and develops proteomics methods to measure cellular dynamics after stress on a systems biology level. One major goal is to combine molecular with global information to gain a cell-wide understanding of cellular changes upon stress. In 2023, Christian became Lichtenberg-Professor.
For his work, Christian received two ERC Grants, an Emmy Noether Grant and won a number of prizes, the British Neuroscience Association Postgraduate Award (2011), Johanna Quandt Young Academy Science Funding Award (2018), the Aventis Foundation Bridge Award (2019), the Binder Innovation Prize of the German Society for Cell Biology (DGZ, 2020), and the Otto Meyerhof Award of the German Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (GBM, 2021). Christian is an EMBO Young Investigator. He serves in the steering committees of the BMBF Cluster4Future Proxidrugs, Collaborative Research Center 1177 Selective Autophagy, Fraunhofer Leistungszentrum TheraNova and the Excellence Cluster Initiative EMTHERA, in the editorial board of the Journal of Cellular Biochemistry and the Selection Committee for Humboldt Research Fellowships.
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Dr. Giulio Ferrario
Giulio started using mass spectrometry-based proteomics during his Master’s thesis at Nerviano Medical Sciences, where he explored protein complexes in oncological drug discovery using native mass spectrometry. To further increase his knowledge in proteomics, Giulio pursued his Ph.D. within the Pharmaceutical Analytical laboratory at the University of Milan. His doctoral research focused on elucidating the biological impact of natural extracts on inflammation, employing diverse mass spectrometry approaches. In January 2024, Giulio assumed the role of Technical Scientist in the Münch lab and Center for Functional Proteomics.
Martin Adrian-Allgood
In 2012, Martin graduated as Biological Technical Assistant (BTA) in Koblenz and started working in the Kerschensteiner laboratory at the Institute of Clinical Neuroimmunology in Munich focusing on protein production for the MS research. From 2016 till 2019, he was part of the research group Schmidt at the Institute for Microscopic Anatomy and Neurobiology in Mainz, gaining further experience in the production and purification of proteins for cancer research. In 2020, Martin joined the IBCII to support the Protein Quality Control Group of Christian Münch and the Quantitative Mass Spectrometry Unit.
Dr. Nikita Verheyden
Nikita studied biochemistry at the EKU Tübingen (Bachelor) and the MLU Halle (Master), completing his Master’s thesis about epigenetic influences on long non-coding RNA expression in the Lab of Michael Kobor at the CMMT (Vancouver, Canada). He continued with the research for his Ph.D. thesis at the lab of Andreas Krueger at the GU Frankfurt and JLU Giessen, investigating the context dependent gene regulation facilitated by miR-181 in mice. For this study, he employed multiple omics approaches such as ribosome profiling, miR-eCLIP and quantitative mass spectrometry. Since 2023, he been working as a postdoc in the Münch group, mainly tasked with automizing and improving analysis pipelines for mass spectrometry.