High-end ion mobility mass spectrometry: A current review of analytical capacity in omics applications and structural investigations

Abstract

Mass spectrometry-based biomolecular analyses have become permanent fixtures of academic, industrial, and clinical research settings. The rise in utilization of mass spectrometry has, in turn, spurred on a technological arms race, with every major vendor seeking to provide instrumentation that is more sensitive, higher in resolution, or may otherwise offer fundamental advantages during analysis. Enabling higher sensitivity, increased instrumental duty cycle, reduced analysis time and lower sample requirements, gas phase ion separation techniques now provide a fourth dimension of analysis, enabling rapid structural characterization and high throughput -omics profiling in a single run. Presented here is a current review of the latest iterations and applications of high-end ion-mobility enabled instrumentation, the Agilent 6560 IM-QTOF, Waters Cyclic, Bruker timsTOF, and Thermo FAIMS Pro instrument platforms. Describing their engineering developments and analytical successes over the past two decades, we highlight notable advantages and considerations for novice and experienced biomolecular researchers alike.