J. Scott Edgar

Compartmentalization of Chemically Separated Components into Droplets

Not merely a drop in the ocean: The integration of capillary electrophoresis (CE) with droplet generation driven by electroosmotic flow enabled the compartimentalization of molecular components separated by CE in a series of droplets (see picture; the green bars represent the separated analytes). The droplet-confined bands can be docked and studied on a chip.

Single-synapse ablation and long-term imaging in live C. elegans

Synapses are individually operated, computational units for neural communication. To manipulate physically individual synapses in a living organism, we have developed a laser ablation technique for removing single synapses in live neurons in C. elegans that operates without apparent damage to the axon. As a complementary technique, we applied microfluidic immobilization of C. elegans to facilitate long-term fluorescence imaging and observation of neuronal development. With this technique, we directly demonstrated the existence of competition between developing synapses in the HSNL motor neuron.

Surface Acoustic Wave Nebulization Produces Ions with Lower Internal Energy than Electrospray Ionization

Surface acoustic wave nebulization (SAWN) has recently been reported as a novel method to transfer non-volatile analytes directly from solution to the gas phase for mass spectrometric analysis. Here we present a comparison of the survival yield of SAWN versus electrospray ionization (ESI) produced ions. A series of substituted benzylpyridinium (BzPy) compounds were utilized to measure ion survival yield from which ion energetics were inferred. We also estimated bond dissociation energies using higher level quantum chemical calculations than previously reported for BzPy ions. Additionally, the effects on BzPy precursor ion survival of SAWN operational parameters such as inlet capillary temperature and solution flow-rate were investigated. Under all conditions tested, SAWN-generated BzPy ions displayed a higher tendency for survival and thus have lower internal energies than those formed by ESI.

Surface Acoustic Wave Nebulization Facilitating Lipid Mass Spectrometric Analysis

Surface acoustic wave nebulization (SAWN) is a novel method to transfer nonvolatile analytes directly from the aqueous phase to the gas phase for mass spectrometric analysis. The lower ion energetics of SAWN and its planar nature make it appealing for analytically challenging lipid samples. This challenge is a result of their amphipathic nature, labile nature, and tendency to form aggregates, which readily precipitate clogging capillaries used for electrospray ionization (ESI). Here, we report the use of SAWN to characterize the complex glycolipid, lipid A, which serves as the membrane anchor component of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and has a pronounced tendency to clog nano-ESI capillaries. We also show that unlike ESI SAWN is capable of ionizing labile phospholipids without fragmentation. Lastly, we compare the ease of use of SAWN to the more conventional infusion-based ESI methods and demonstrate the ability to generate higher order tandem mass spectral data of lipid A for automated structure assignment using our previously reported hierarchical tandem mass spectrometry (HiTMS) algorithm. The ease of generating SAWN-MS(n) data combined with HiTMS interpretation offers the potential for high throughput lipid A structure analysis.

Quantitative force mapping of an optical vortex trap

This paper describes the quantitative force mapping of micron-sized particles held in an optical vortex trap. We present a simple and efficient model, which accounts for the diffraction of the strongly localized optical field of the tightly focused laser beam, the spherical aberration introduced by the dielectric glass-to-water interface, employs the multidipole approximation for force calculations, and is able to reproduce, with quantitative agreement, the experimentally measured force map.

Monitoring cell survival after extraction of a single subcellular organelle using optical trapping and pulsed-nitrogen laser ablation.

Abstract This paper characterizes cell viability in three different cell lines—Chinese hamster ovary cells (CHO), neuroblastoma cells fused with glialoma cells (NG108-15) and murine embryonic stem cells (ES-D3)—after N2 laser disruption of the cell membrane and removal, via optical trapping, of a single subcellular organelle. Morphological changes and viability (as determined by live/dead fluorescent stains) of the cell were monitored every half hour over a 4-h period postsurgery. The ability of the cell to survive organelle extraction was found to depend both on the conditions under which surgery was performed and on the cell type. The average viability after surgery for CHO cells was approximately 80%, for NG 108 cells it was approximately 30% and for ES-D3 cells postsurgery viability was approximately 10%. From over 600 surgeries we found the survival of the cell is determined almost exclusively within the first hour postsurgery regardless of cell line. The optimal pulse energy for N2 laser ablation was approximately 0.7 μJ. The N2 pulse produced an approximately 1–3 μm hole in the cell membrane and proved to be the primary source of cell death in those cells that did not survive the procedure.

Surface acoustic wave nebulization device with dual interdigitated transducers improves SAWN-MS performance

We compared mass spectrometric (MS) performance of surface acoustic wave nebulization (SAWN) generated by a single interdigitated transducer (IDT) designed to produce a progressive wave (PW) to one with a dual IDT that can in theory generate standing waves (SW). Given that devices using dual IDTs had been shown to produce fewer large size droplets on average, we hypothesized they would improve MS performance by improving the efficiency of desolvation. Indeed, the SW-SAWN chip provided an improved limit of detection of 1 femtomole of peptide placed on chip making it 100× more sensitive than the PW design. However, as measured by high-speed image recording and phase Doppler particle analyzer measurements, there was only a 26% increase in the small diameter (1-10 µm) droplets produced from the new device, precluding a conclusion that the decrease in droplet size was solely responsible for the improvement in MS signal/noise. Given that the dual IDT design produced a more instantaneous plume than the PW design, the more likely contributor to improved MS signal/noise was concluded to be a higher ion flux entering the mass spectrometer for the dual IDT designs. Notably, the dual IDT device allowed production of much higher quality protein mass spectra up to about 20 kDa, compared with the single IDT device. Copyright

Screen-printed digital microfluidics combined with surface acoustic wave nebulization for hydrogen-deuterium exchange measurements.

An inexpensive digital microfluidic (DMF) chip was fabricated by screen-printing electrodes on a sheet of polyimide. This device was manually integrated with surface acoustic wave nebulization (SAWN) MS to conduct hydrogen/deuterium exchange (HDX) of peptides. The HDX experiment was performed by DMF mixing of one aqueous droplet of angiotensin II with a second containing various concentrations of D2O. Subsequently, the degree of HDX was measured immediately by SAWN-MS. As expected for a small peptide, the isotopically resolved mass spectrum for angiotensin revealed that maximum deuterium exchange was achieved using 50% D2O. Additionally, using SAWN-MS alone, the global HDX kinetics of ubiquitin were found to be similar to published NMR data and back exchange rates for the uncooled apparatus using high inlet capillary temperatures was less than 6%.

Phosphorylation within the cysteine-rich region of dystrophin enhances its association with β-dystroglycan and identifies a potential novel therapeutic target for skeletal muscle wasting

Mutations in dystrophin lead to Duchenne muscular dystrophy, which is among the most common human genetic disorders. Dystrophin nucleates assembly of the dystrophin-glycoprotein complex (DGC), and a defective DGC disrupts an essential link between the intracellular cytoskeleton and the basal lamina, leading to progressive muscle wasting. In vitro studies have suggested that dystrophin phosphorylation may affect interactions with actin or syntrophin, yet whether this occurs in vivo or affects protein function remains unknown. Utilizing nanoflow liquid chromatography mass spectrometry, we identified 18 phosphorylated residues within endogenous dystrophin. Mutagenesis revealed that phosphorylation at S3059 enhances the dystrophin-dystroglycan interaction and 3D modeling utilizing the Rosetta software program provided a structural model for how phosphorylation enhances this interaction. These findings demonstrate that phosphorylation is a key mechanism regulating the interaction between dystrophin and the DGC and reveal that posttranslational modification of a single amino acid directly modulates the function of dystrophin.

Use of captive spray ionization to increase throughput of the data‐independent acquisition technique PAcIFIC

RATIONALE The Precursor Acquisition Independent From Ion Count (PAcIFIC) method is a data-independent acquisition technique capable of identifying proteins over eight orders of magnitude in a single analysis in human plasma. Widespread application of this technique in proteomic studies is hindered by its time-intensive nature. There exists a need to explore strategies to increase the throughput of the PAcIFIC method. METHODS The PAcIFIC acquisition technique was optimized for use with an Orbitrap mass spectrometer fitted with a captive spray ionization (CSI) source. Chromatographic methods, PAcIFIC acquisition parameters, for example, channels interrogated per chromatographic gradient, time span of chromatographic gradient, and sample loading amount, were investigated to achieve a maximum number of peptide and protein identifications on a yeast proteome where protein copy number had been previously determined. RESULTS A 24-hour CSI PAcIFIC method was developed with minimal reduction of peptide and protein identifications from the 4.2-day nano-electrospray ionization (nESI) PAcIFIC method. Analysis of a yeast cell lysate with the 4.2-day nESI PAcIFIC method resulted in 13,468 peptide and 2120 protein identifications. A 24-hour CSI PAcIFIC method resulted in 11,277 peptide and 1753 protein identifications. Increased sample loading of the CSI system allowed for an 8% increase in peptide and protein identifications. CONCLUSIONS A dramatic decrease in the overall analysis time of the PAcIFIC method (24 h with CSI versus 100.8 h with nESI) was achieved with minimal reduction of peptide and protein identifications. Furthermore, the CSI PAcIFIC method demonstrated a high degree of sensitivity and capability of identifying proteins across a large dynamic range observed with the nESI PAcIFIC method (CSI PAcIFIC identified proteins as low as 46 molecules per cell).