Research overview

　　Overview

　　Sensitive and accurate detection of trace analytes/biomarkers in small volume sample with complicated matrix always remains challenging in various application fields, especially in the clinical diagnosis and proteomic/metabolomic study, etc. Dr. Yu Bai’s research effort has focused on the establishment of high-throughput, sensitive and efficient mass spectrometry (MS) approaches and their applications on biomarkers detection in small volume sample and single cell with complicated sample matrix

 

　　Direction I: Establishment of Novel Ambient MS ionization Source Platform. To improve the universality, resolution and sensitivity of Ambient MS, we established a variety of new ambient ionization sources, such as PAMLDI, iAmIS and LS-ESI etc., performing the comprehensive analysis of diverse analytes, and tracking the trace intermediatesof organic reaction. These approaches provide multiple solutions for the screening and imaging of organic molecules, the interpretation of chemical reaction mechanism, and the strong fundamental support for further applications in the small volume sample analysis.

　　Direction II: Ultra-sensitive Biomarker Analysis Based on Ambient Mass Spectrometry Immunoassay. Direct analysis of multiplexed macromolecular biomarker remains challenging in very small amount of sample and single cells. Based on high-performance mass tags, in situ tag dissociation technique, and multiple signal amplification strategy, series of ultra-sensitive ambient MS immunoassays were established, achieving zeptomolar protein LOD, multiplexed biomarker screening, glycans visualization, and simultaneous semi-quantification of multiplexed proteins and metabolites in single cell. Our work is promising in the multiplexed biomarker detection in single drop of blood or single cell for clinical diagnosis and therapy.

　　Direction III: Proteomic and Metabolomic Analysis Based on Novel Nanomaterials Pretreatment and LC-MS/MS. The efficient and selective enrichment of target molecules is essential for the downstream -omics study. Innovative nanomaterialsand universal post-synthesis modification strategies for materials functionalizationwere proposed for peptide enrichment, providing applicable sample preparation for major diseases samplewithlimited amount. Proteomic and metabolomic study with the help of sample preparation and LC-MS/MS revealed target molecules and provided new insights into the molecular mechanism of different diseases.