Acoustic mist ionization mass spectrometry (AMI-MS) as a drug discovery platform

Acoustic Ejection/Full-Scan Mass Spectrometry Analysis for High-Throughput Compound Quality Control

“…The contactless nature of the acoustic transfer eliminates possibilities of nonspecific binding of compounds onto the tip surface or carryover, as in the contact liquid dispending tools, serving as an ideal inlet for direct MS analysis. Using acoustic technology for direct liquid sampling coupled with MS detection, AMI [22][23][24] and AE-MS 25,26 have achieved similar analytical speeds as MALDI or DESI at seconds per sample. The minimal sample consumption (nL) also makes acoustic liquid sampling more advantageous over other liquid sample analysis approaches (LC-MS or RapidFire-MS), whereby 5-10 µL of sample is typically used for each injection.…”

“…AMI has been shown to exhibit somewhat high variability when analyzing biological samples, owing to the difficulties associated with both reproducible mist generation and ion suppression. 24 The more recently emerging AE-MS features the utilization of acoustic droplet ejection, a sample dispensing and transferring tool as previously used. 27,28 In this acoustic technology, the acoustic ejection applies focused acoustic energy to liquid samples in the source plate, ejecting droplets of nanoliter size from the meniscus of the liquid with rapidity, as well as excellent precision and accuracy (<2% coefficient of variation at 2.5 nL 29 ).…”

“…AMI has been shown to exhibit somewhat high variability when analyzing biological samples, owing to the difficulties associated with both reproducible mist generation and ion suppression. 24…”

Nanoscale, automated, high throughput synthesis and screening for the accelerated discovery of protein modifiers

“…7 The combination of acoustic mist ionization and time-of-flight mass spectrometry finds already sporadic use in HTS approaches to triage assays and in metabolic profiling. 8 Acoustic dispensing is used for the fast, mild and effective crystal soaking for the formation of ligand-protein complexes. 9 Although novel technologies are constantly surfacing, they have to be validated, implemented and integrated with academic and pharmaceutical R&D activities to obtain a better understanding of the molecular basis of diseases and to ultimately accelerate drug discovery.…”

Development of a Novel Label-Free and High-Throughput Arginase-1 Assay Using Self-Assembled Monolayer Desorption Ionization Mass Spectrometry

“…16 This approach may be attractive for distinct targets, provided the reactions do not require detergents or high salt concentrations that induce ion suppression in MS instruments or dilute samples that fall lower than the limit of detection. Alternatively, high-throughput MS applications, including matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) 17,18 and acoustic dispense, 19 offer an accelerated option for HTS campaigns with a throughput of 100,000 compounds per day. The increased throughput is attributed to the elimination of the column chromatography washing and enrichment steps of the liquid chromatography (LC) system.…”