High precision protein analysis

2018-09-18

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Hello! Jonas Bergquist and Sara Lind at the Department of Chemistry – BMC, who are also working at the mass spectrometry-based proteomics facility which is partly funded by the Faculty of Science and Technology:

“The MS facility opened at SciLifeLab already in 2012, but since 2017 it is operating within the research programme in analytical chemistry at BMC. Do people manage to find you?”

Jonas: “We have a large number of clients from all over the country as well as abroad. Although the facility is rather known, a generational change is underway within all research groups and areas. That's why it's a good time to get an update on our activities and what new tools are under development. As a user at Uppsala University you also get a greatly discounted and affordable price to have your analyses done at our facility.”

“What services do you offer?”

Jonas: “We offer a thorough protein determination method, or proteomics as we call it when we look at many proteins at the same time. This allows us to identify and quantify proteins in complex samples.”

Sara: “We analyse all kinds of samples of bacteria and viruses from dogs, cats and horses as well as humans. The samples may come from for example plasma, cultured cells or various bodily fluids. We can also look at tissues that have been stored in biobanks. Other specialities of ours are plant and environmental analyses.”

"Research groups cannot set up this equipment by themselves. The instruments are very expensive and require special expertise and careful management in order to generate and analyse results.”

The facility has a staff of four with backgrounds in chemistry, biology, medicine, and also pet agronomy. Every year, analyses are carried out within some 80 projects.

“What is unique about the facility?”

Jonas: “It’s the collective expertise we have gathered in terms of specific methods for sampling and sample processing combined with in-depth analysis. How we can accurately measure things in complex samples such as cerebrospinal fluid and brain tissue. This is, if not internationally rare, at least unique at the national level. When it comes to looking at unusual types of cells and organisms in all forms, we’ve also created a knowledge base that is exceptional in our country.”

Anneli Björkman