Mass Spectrometry
Mass spectrometry (MS) is an analytical technique that is used to measure the mass-to-charge ratio of ions. The results are presented as a mass spectrum, a plot of intensity as a function of the mass-to-charge ratio. Mass spectrometry is used in many different fields and is applied to pure samples as well as complex mixtures.
- Development of target, suspect and non-target screening workflow
- Digital archiving of environment (DSFP) and food specimens and application in regulation and research
- Retention time index prediction models to support suspect and non-target screening
- Development of novel prioritization protocols to detect compounds with varied concentrations in the treatment chain or in time-series experiments through time-trend and differential analysis
- Investigation of statistical methods incorporated in non-target screening workflows to detect relevant compounds in different case-studies e.g. bioaccumulative substances in the food web and transformation of emerging substances during environmental and industrial processes
- Automatic chemical curation of list of compounds and generation of mass spectrometry ready databases
- Participation in collaborative trials on non-target screening
- Identification of newly produced isolated compounds and their metabolites
- Development of in-silico MS/MS prediction tools their structural annotation in ESI source
- Development of novel semi-quantitative approach
Staff
Head of Unit
Principal Investigator
Principal Investigator
Principal Investigator
Principal Investigator
ICP
SERVICES
The Inductively Coupled Plasma – Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) Unit of the Core Facility of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens is part of the horizontal infrastructure of the School of Sciences. The purpose of the instrumentation is to determine multi-element contents in a wide range of samples and scientific fields such as food samples, environmental matrices (water, soil, etc.), biological fluids (blood, urine), geological samples at ppb concentration levels. The instrument uses a collision/reaction cell to avoid polyatomic interferences and is equipped with two collision/reaction gas options, helium and hydrogen. An autosampler is included in the system and, in addition, the Integrated Sample Introduction System (ISIS) shortens the analysis run and reduces the consumption of argon gas. The system is also suitable for rare earth analysis at ppt levels. Another feature of the instrument is the High-Matrix Introduction System, which helps to analyse the most challenging matrices, such as seawater samples, without time-consuming pre-treatment.
- Supports the determination of virtually all elements of the periodic table in environmental samples, food samples and biological fluids.
- Ideal for analysis in chemistry, geology and environmental sciences.
- Some of the most useful applications include Determination of lead, cadmium, mercury, chromium and nickel in water/food/biological fluids.
- Determination of all regulated elements in water according to EU and national regulations.
- Determination of rare earth elements as part of authenticity studies.
TECHNOLOGY AND EQUIPMENT
Agilent 7900 ICP-MS System
- Acquisition modes: No Gas, Helium, Hydrogen
- Mass ranges from 2–260
- Mass resolution of < 1.0u (from 0.3u)
- The dynamic range > 11 orders
- High Matrix Introduction (HMI)
- Plasma tolerates total dissolved solids (TDS)
- Levels greater than the 0.1 to 0.2%
- HMI dilutes the sample aerosol using clean, dry argon gas.
Agilent 7900
LC-MS/MS
SERVICES
The Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) Unit of the Core Facility of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens is part of the horizontal infrastructure of the School of Sciences. The purpose of the instrumentation is to determine organic compounds in a wide range of matrices and scientific fields such as metabolites, environmental contaminants, and general compounds of interest with a well-defined selectivity and at sub-ppb concentration levels.
- Supports the determination of chemical organic compounds in environmental matrices, foods, pharmaceutical formulations, and biological fluids extracts.
- PFAS
- Mycotoxins
- Metabolites
- pharmaceuticals
- environmental contaminant
- veterinary residues,
- Ideal for Chemistry and Life Sciences targeted analysis, covering small molecule determination, quantitative analysis with high selectivity criteria, pharmaceutical analysis, environmental and food analysis.
TECHNOLOGY AND EQUIPMENT
AB SCIEX QTRAP 6500+ System
The most common feature of this instrument, which provides the above benefits, is the Multiply Reaction Monitoring (MRM) scan mode, a function that is performed by all triple stage quadrupole mass spectrometers.
Τhe system can operate in linear trap mode to improve selectivity for difficult matrices (biological fluids, food matrices, etc.) and to avoid the most difficult interferences between samples. Furthermore, it can operate in dual ionization mode (positive and negative ionization switching) and the ion source is equipped with heating Electrospray Ionization (ESI) and Atmospheric Pressure Chemical Ionization (APCI). The system is equipped with ultra-pressure liquid chromatography, which increases the peak resolution between chemical compounds and reduces the analysis time.
- Liquid Chromatography System– ExionLC AD series with a 109-position autosampler (4°C to 35°C), 0.1–50 µL injection volume, 1300 bar max pressure, and column oven up to 90°C. Binary pump included.
- Mass Spectrometer– Triple quadrupole (5–2000 Da) and linear ion trap (50–2000 Da) with ESI/APCI ionization (600°C). Fast polarity switching (5 ms).
AB SCIEX QTRAP 6500+
Lipidomics
SERVICES
The Lipidomics Unit of the Core Facility at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens is a specialized unit dedicated to the in-depth analysis of lipid species across various biological systems. This facility is designed to support academic researchers, industrial partners, and healthcare professionals in understanding lipid metabolism, biomarker discovery, and the role of lipids in health and disease. Utilizing state-of-the-art instrumentation, the facility offers comprehensive lipid profiling, structural characterization, and quantification of lipid species from diverse sample types.
TECHNOLOGY AND EQUIPMENT
TIMS-TOF-Pro 2
- Features Trapped Ion Mobility Spectrometry (TIMS) for high-resolution separation of lipid isomers.
- Provides ultra-high sensitivity and specificity for lipid identification and semi-quantification.
- Capable of high-throughput lipidomic workflows with fast duty cycles.
- Ideal for the characterization of complex lipid mixtures in biological samples.
TIMS-TOF-FLEX
- Equipped with MALDI (Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization) capabilities for spatial lipidomics.
- Allows for direct tissue analysis and mapping of lipid distributions in biological specimens.
- Combines ion mobility separation with high-resolution mass spectrometry for superior lipid characterization.
- Supports both targeted and untargeted lipidomics approaches.
Metabolomics
SERVICES
Metabolomics is the scientific study of the metabolome—the complete set of metabolites and their interactions within a biological system. Organisms are actually complex super-organisms. Their phenotype is determined by their own DNA expression, the coexistence of various biological entities (e.g. microbiome) and by the exposure to different environmental conditions. Metabolomics provides the snapshot of an organism’s current phenotype.
By bridging the gap between genetic background, gene expression, and environment stimuli (i.e., lifestyle, diet, exposure, and microbiota), metabolomics plays a crucial role in understanding underlying biological processes. It complements other omics technologies (genomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics), enabling a holistic interpretation of different phenotypes. Metabolomics has broad applications in health, life sciences, food and nutrition, environmental research, toxicology, and beyond.
At the core facility of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, researchers have access to state-of-the-art instrumentation that facilitates hight throughput, high-accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity analyses.
- Sample preparation (clinical, biological, food, environmental samples, etc.)
- LC-MS based chemical analysis (DIA, DDA, PASEF, MRM, PRM)
- Statistical analysis: variable selection, univariate & multivariate analysis, machine learning, etc.
- Identification: metabolites annotation (library based, de novo, in silico, GNPS, mass defect filters, ontology based etc.)
- Interpretation: pathway analysis, enrichment analysis, biological assessment
TECHNOLOGY AND EQUIPMENT
Bruker TimsTOFpro2 equipped with the Apollo ESI or HESI source coupled to Elute UPLC pump
- SCIEX Triple Quad 5500+ couple to ESI/APCI and UPLC pump
- SCIEX Triple Quad 6500+ (Q-Trap) couple to ESI/APCI and UPLC pump
Bruker TimsTOFpro2
Proteomics
SERVICES
Diagnostics
- Supports protein-typing of laser capture microdissected amyloid deposits from fat aspirate, kidney, heart, salivary gland (and more) FFPE biopsies.
- Requests will be transferred to the Referral Center for Amyloidosis at Alexandra hospital, Athens (Prof. Kastritis) for approval in the context of the patient’s clinical picture. We also encourage requests for amyloid typing for external validation studies and research projects.
Full proteomes
- Supports differential proteomics experiments within a cohort of samples.
- Ideal for Health Sciences and Life Sciences, covering model systems and patient cohorts such as cell pellets (cell lines, CD138+, bacteria and other), tissues (mammalian (liver, muscle, brain), and other species (plant seeds)), but not plasma/serum.
Chemoproteomics
- Supports the identification of proteins bound by small molecules (target deconvolution and selectivity profiling) in relevant, user-chosen biological systems.
- Ideal for Medicinal/Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Life Sciences, covering profiling of novel drug candidate, drug repurposing, mode-of-action elucidation.
TECHNOLOGY AND EQUIPMENT
Bruker timsTOF fleX - nanoElute 2
- This system features a nanoElute 2 liquid chromatography system dedicated to nanoflow elution of the analytes.
- The system is equipped with a tims (Trapped Ion Mobility Spectrometry) tunnel, allowing for separation by ion-mobility as a 4th dimension.
- System allows for PASEF (Parallel Accumulation Serial Fragmentation) technology, including data-dependent acquisition (DDA) and data-independent acquisition (DIA), and notably library-free diaPASEF.
- Data processing is performed on latest generation software (FragPipe, DIA-NN), using neural-network-predicted peptide spectra.
Bruker timsTOF fleX - nanoElute 2
Book our Equipment
We look forward to supporting your research with the best tools and expertise available. Explore our resources and unlock new possibilities at NKUA Core Facilities today!
Availability
NKUA Users
You can use your NKUA account to book our equipment with a single click by using the button below.
External Users
Book our Equipment
We look forward to supporting your research with the best tools and expertise available. Explore our resources and unlock new possibilities at NKUA Core Facilities today!
Availability
NKUA Users
You can use your NKUA account to book our equipment with a single click by using the button below.
External Users
Book our Equipment
We look forward to supporting your research with the best tools and expertise available. Explore our resources and unlock new possibilities at NKUA Core Facilities today!
Availability
NKUA Users
You can use your NKUA account to book our equipment with a single click by using the button below.
External Users
Book our Equipment
We look forward to supporting your research with the best tools and expertise available. Explore our resources and unlock new possibilities at NKUA Core Facilities today!
Availability
NKUA Users
You can use your NKUA account to book our equipment with a single click by using the button below.
External Users
Book our Equipment
We look forward to supporting your research with the best tools and expertise available. Explore our resources and unlock new possibilities at NKUA Core Facilities today!
Availability
NKUA Users
You can use your NKUA account to book our equipment with a single click by using the button below.