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The Bioinorganic and Proteomics Facility at WHOI

The Bioinorganic and Proteomics Laboratory at WHOI is jointly operated by the Saito and Repeta laboratories. The Saito laboratory applies a combination of trace metal analytical measurements, microbiological approaches, and biochemical protein methods to our research. For metal analyses, we use a specialized dust-free cleanroom environment for sample preparation and analyses, voltammetricinstrumentation for speciation measurements, and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometers (ICP-MS) for total analyses. For the protein analyses, we operate nanospray liquid chromatography mass spectrometers for global and targeted quantitative proteomic analyses using the latest mass spectrometry technology. We also combine these technologies, having developed hybrid organic-inorganic methodologies such as our metalloproteomic technique that allows examination of metal inventories within cells, as well as for detection of metal-binding molecules. This instrumentation is used primarily for analytical method development for biomedical and marine applications. As a research meta- and metallo- proteomics group developing new methods, we often collaborate with other research groups on proteomic studies particularly on experiments related to microbe-metal interactions. Contact us for interest in collaborations at proteomics@whoi.edu.

Saito Laboratory Instrumentation

  • Trace metal biogeochemistry clean laboratory
  • Metrohm voltammetry systems for metal speciation and totals
  • Phytoplankton and bacteria culture facilities
  • Protein extraction equipment
  • Thermo Q-Exactive Mass Spectrometer
  • Thermo Fusion Tribrid Mass Spectrometer
  • Thermo Astral Orbitrap Mass Spectrometer
  • Thermo ICap-Q Inductively Coupled Mass Spectrometer
  • Multi-Dimensional and Nanoflow Liquid Chromatography Systems
  • Access to Element 2 and Nepture Multi-Collector ICP Mass Spectrometers
  • Access to HPC cluster
  • Extensive field sampling equipment for trace metal and protein sampling
  • Collaborator on the AUV Clio biogeochemical sampling robot

Highlighted publications:

Metaproteomic intercomparison study
2D Active Modulation Metaproteomics Method

QExactive mass spectrometer with nanoflow system.
Thermo Fusion mass spectrometer with 2D nano-flow system.
The Thermo Astral mass spectrometer for organic (proteomic and small molecule) analyses.