LESA – A New Mass Spectrometry-based Surface Analysis Technique Using the TriVersa NanoMate

Earlier this year, Advion announced a new capability for its TriVersa NanoMate® – Liquid Extraction Surface Analysis (LESA™). LESA™ was developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (V. Kertesz, G.J. Van Berkel, J. Mass Spectrom, Mar 2010) to bring the benefits of nanoESI/MS to surface analysis and to automate surface sampling for faster, more effective analyses.

On September 16th, Advion hosted a webinar presented by Dr. Tom Covey, a principal research scientist with AB SCIEX, to more fully explain the new LESA capabilities and benefits. Although Dr. Covey focused his presentation on small molecule applications, LESA is also ideal for proteomic and lipid research. Advion’s chief scientific officer, Jack Henion, moderated the event and fielded many engaging participant questions.

The TriVersa NanoMate with LESA begins by aspirating solvent from a reservoir within the instrument into a pipette tip. The robot then positions the pipette tip above a preselected location on the sample and brings a droplet of the solvent into contact with the surface of the sample, thereby extracting the analytes. The analyte-rich droplet is retracted into the pipette tip and delivered to the back of the ESI Chip for nanoESI/MS analysis.

The tissue analysis technique saves time because it eliminates sample homogenization and result averaging. A researcher can sample directly from the tissue slices, enabling spatial information by sampling from multiple spots within the body or individual organ, and nanoESI’s long, stable spray times allow for deeper MS analysis. Complementary information to DESI, DART and MALDI is also yielded.

With the addition of LESA to the TriVersa NanoMate’s existing capabilities – automated nanoelectrospray and LC/MS fraction collection – researchers have more opportunities to investigate their samples and gain insight from more information.

The LESA capability is available as an upgrade to all previously installed TriVersa NanoMates as well as an option on new purchases, and is compatible with the majority of mass spectrometers.

View the recorded webinar and full presentation.

About Advion BioSystems, Inc.
Advion is the scientific leader in microfluidic systems. The company’s scientific knowledge base creates unique nanotechnologies delivering speed, flexibility, and exceptional data quality. Advion is the microfluidics supplier of choice for customers demanding scientific excellence, more information from complex samples, and greater throughput. More about the company can be found at www.advion.com.