Mass spectrometer for quantification and characterization of DNA damage in mammalian and human systems. Final report

The instrument grant was used to purchase a Finnigan TSQ 7000 tandem quadruple mass spectrometer with electrospray and atmospheric-pressure chemical-ionization ion sources for the amount of the grant, $371,857. MIT contributed $50,000 in refurbishing costs for the laboratory in which the instrument is used. This mass spectrometer has been in operation since July, 1995 in professor Steven Tannenbaum`s Laboratory in the MIT Division of Toxicology, under the direct supervision of Dr. John S. Wishnok. Its current location is in MIT Building 56, room 747. It is in good operating condition, and is being actively used. Since the original purchase, the instrument has been upgraded by the addition of a (1) dedicated high-performance liquid chromatograph with an autosampler and (2) a nanoelectrospray ion source. The instrument has been used in a number of research projects including the identification of proteins and oligonucleotides, identification of PAH-DNA and PAH-protein adducts, quantitation of food-related carcinogens, and characterization of nitric oxide- and peroxynitrite-related DNA damage