Detection of a Biomarker for Congestive Heart Failure by Field Asymmetric Ion Mobility Spectrometry (2011)

Undergraduates: Alice Pilo, Alessandra Ferzoco, Mark Ridgeway

Faculty Advisor: Gary Glish
Department: Chemistry

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Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. Physicians diagnose heart disease by determining the amount of a specific biomarker in the blood. This biomarker is Brain Natriuretic Peptide (BNP) which is secreted by the heart ventricles in response to congestive heart failure. It is important to have a fast, accurate, and sensitive technique to determine the levels of BNP in a blood sample to make the correct diagnosis. Mass spectrometry (MS) is a suitable technique for this because of its sensitivity and specificity. However, very complex samples such as blood serum require some kind of separation technique prior to MS analysis. Standard chromatography methods are too slow. The goal of the project presented is to develop a high speed separation method to couple with MS to increase the sensitivity and improve diagnostic capabilities. This work focuses on development of field asymmetric ion mobility spectrometry combined with MS for improved BNP detection.