Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Collaborative Partnership with Vascular Proteomics Group at King’s College London

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., the world leader in serving science, today announced a collaborative partnership with the newly opened Vascular Proteomics Group at the James Black Center, King’s College London, headed by Dr. Manuel Mayr. Started in June 2007, the facility is equipped with the powerful combination of a Thermo Scientific LTQ Orbitrap XL™ high performance mass spectrometer and the ETD-equipped Thermo Scientific LTQ XL™ system. This offers the most advanced proteomics capabilities available to today’s researchers.

The James Black Center is a world-renowned research facility with a range of core competencies including genomics, proteomics, mulitphoton confocal microscopy and MRI. The Center is using the Thermo Scientific LTQ Orbitrap XL, a protein identification and biomarker discovery platform, along with an LTQ linear ion trap coupled with electron transfer dissociation (ETD) capability for advanced proteomic research in cardiovascular medicine.

“We are delighted that our new proteomics facility at the James Black Center will feature cutting- edge technology dedicated to cardiovascular research. Our primary focus will be on the ability of stem cells to affect cardiovascular repair,” said Dr. Mayr.

Professor Qingbo Xu, British Heart Foundation Professor at King’s College London, states that, “This group has the potential to make a big impact in cardiovascular proteomics. The Cardiovascular Division has just been awarded a £9m grant from the British Heart Foundation, which will provide excellent research possibilities here at King’s College.”

The Thermo Scientific LTQ Orbitrap XL provides unparalleled sensitivity in MS/MSⁿ, a rapid scan rate, high mass accuracy and up to 100k resolution power. Taking advantage of the high ion storage capacity and fast cycle times of linear ion trap technology, the Thermo Scientific LTQ XL with ETD enables researchers at Kings College to conduct rapid alternating CID (Collisionally Induced Dissociation) and ETD experiments in LC/MSⁿ analysis of complex samples. By rapidly alternating the two fragmentation techniques, it is possible to significantly increase proteome coverage and have complete confidence in each protein identified.

At the opening, Thermo Fisher Scientific's UK Life Science sales manager, Eric Winter, said “Manuel Mayr and the Vascular Proteomics Group at King’s College are on the leading edge of proteomic research in cardiovascular medicine. We are proud to provide complete workflow solutions for advanced protein discovery proteomics and quantitation.”

Together, Dr. Mayr and Thermo Fisher Scientific have already collaborated on articles in Molecular and Cellular Proteomics and the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, as well as a chapter in the Proteomics Protocols Handbook.