Name: Using a Cyclic Ion Mobility Spectrometer for Tandem Ion Mobility Experiments (Video) | JoVE Journal
Uploaded: 2022-01-20T15:00:00.000+00:00
Duration: 8 min 40 s
Description: Learn tandem ion mobility spectrometry for biomolecular characterization using a cyclic IMS instrument. This method enables effective discrimination of isomeric structures and classification of glycans into distinct groups.

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S.O. is thankful to the French National Research Agency for funding his Ph.D. (grant ANR-18-CE29-0006).

The authors have no conflict of interest to disclose.

The SELECT SERIES Cyclic IMS is a powerful tool that allows selecting a defined ion population&#8212;of a given m/z and ion mobility&#8212;without the need for upstream chromatographic separation. The instrument affords the possibility of generating a bidimensional fragmentation map of this ion population, from which both MS/MS and IMS/IMS spectra can be extracted. However, the user must note several critical points that require attention during the experimental process.
First, the us...

The complete chemical characterization of biomolecules is key to understanding their underlying biological and functional properties. To this end, &#34;omics&#34; sciences have developed in recent years, aiming for the large-scale characterization of chemical structures at biological concentrations. In proteomics and metabolomics, MS has become a core tool to unravel the structural heterogeneity found in biological media-notably thanks to its sensitivity and ability to provide structural information through tandem MS (MS/MS). In MS/MS strategies, an ion is selected according to its mass, then fragmented, and finally, the masses of its fragments are acquired to establish a fingerprint of the molecule. MS/MS spectra can, in particular, be used to match spectral databases1,2, or tentatively reconstruct the parent structures3,4. Under the assumption that similar spectra belong to similar compounds, MS/MS data can also be used to build molecular networks (MNs) connecting related species through a similarity score5,6.
However, because of the inherent property of MS to detect the mass-to-charge ratio (m/z) of ions, the technique is blind to a number of structural features that fall within the range of (stereo)isomerism. For example, carbohydrates are made of several monosaccharide subunits, many of which are stereoisomers or even epimers (e.g., Glc vs. Gal or Glc vs. Man). These subunits are linked by glycosidic bonds, which can differ by the position of the linkage (regioisomerism) and the steric configuration of the anomeric carbon (anomerism). These characteristics make it difficult for standalone MS to distinguish between carbohydrate isomers7, and only regioisomerism can be addressed using high-energy activation methods8,9,10. Although derivatization is an option to disrupt the equivalence of stereoisomeric groups11, it requires extensive sample preparation. Another, more straightforward option is to couple MS with an analytical dimension sensitive to isomerism, such as IMS.
Because this protocol is designed for users who are already familiar with the basic concepts of IMS, and because detailed reviews are available elsewhere12,13, only a brief overview of the principles of IMS is given here. IMS is a gas-phase separation method that relies on the interaction of ions with a buffer gas and an electric field, ultimately separating ions according to their gas-phase conformations. Different principles of IMS coupled to MS can be found on commercial instruments: some operate at alternating high and low electric fields (field asymmetric IMS, FAIMS), while most operate within the low field limit&#8212;notably drift tube IMS (DTIMS, linearly decreasing electric field), traveling wave IMS (TWIMS, symmetric potential waves), and trapped IMS (TIMS, high flow of buffer gas trapping ions against electric fields)13. The low-field methods allow access to a so-called CCS, a property of the ion-gas pair that represents the surface (in &#197;2 or nm2) of the ion that interacts with the buffer gas during the separation. CCS is theoretically instrument-independent and is thus useful to generate data that can be reproduced between different laboratories14. Ion mobility separations can be impacted by various parameters and, notably, by fluctuations of the gas pressure and gas temperature in the mobility cell. The CCS calibration is a way to remedy this, as both the calibrant and the species of interest will be similarly affected13. However, it is mandatory to install the instrument in a temperature-controlled room and to have a reliable gas pressure control system.
An interesting evolution of IMS is IMS/IMS, which was first introduced in 2006 by Clemmer&#39;s group as an analog of MS/MS15,16. In IMS/IMS, an ion of interest is selectively isolated based on its ion mobility; it is then activated (until possible fragmentation), and a new IMS analysis of the activated ion or fragments is performed. In the first instrumental design, two IMS cells were put in series, separated by an ion funnel where the activation stood. Since then, although a number of IMS/IMS setups were proposed (for a review, see Eldrid and Thalassinos17), the first commercial mass spectrometer with IMS/IMS capability only became available in 201918. This instrument substantially improved the initial concept by combining it with another technological breakthrough: a cyclic design of the IMS cell.
The cyclic IMS cell theoretically allows increasing near-infinitely the drift path length and, thus, the resolving power of the instrument19. This was achieved by means of a particular instrument geometry, where the cyclic TWIMS cell is placed orthogonally to the main ion optical axis. A multifunction array region at the entrance of the IMS cell allows controlling the direction of the ion path: (i) sending ions sideways for IMS separation, (ii) forward for MS detection, or (iii) backward from the IMS cell to be stored in a prearray cell. From this prearray store cell, the ions can be activated and the fragments reinjected in the IMS cell for ion mobility measurement, an approach that has been successfully used to characterize stereoisomers20. Ultimately, the collected data contain ion mobility and m/z information for the precursor and its fragments.
In a recent publication that used this cyclic design for glycan analyses (Ollivier et al.21), we showed that the mobility profile of the fragments contained in such IMS/IMS data acts as a fingerprint of a biomolecule that can be used in a molecular networking strategy. The resulting network, called IM-MN, led to the organization of glycomics datasets in a structurally relevant way, whereas the network built solely from MS/MS data (MS-MN) revealed little information. To complement this publication and help Cyclic IMS users implement this workflow, this protocol provides a complete description of the protocol used to collect the data. This protocol focuses only on the generation of the IMS/IMS data that users can then use to build IM-MN networks (see21)&#8212;or for any other application of their choice. Building of IM-MN will not be considered herein, as protocols for molecular networking are already available22. The crucial points that must be followed to generate valuable and reproducible IMS/IMS acquisitions are highlighted. Taking the example of one of the oligosaccharides studied by Ollivier et al.21, the following steps are detailed: (i) sample preparation, (ii) tuning of the Cyclic IMS instrument, (iii) automated peak-picking of the data, and (iv) CCS calibration.

<table><tbody><tr><td>33-&amp;alpha;-L- plus 23-&amp;alpha;-L-Arabinofuranosyl-xylotetraose (XA3XX/XA2XX) mixture</td><td>Megazyme Ltd., Wicklow, Ireland</td><td>O-XAXXMIX</td><td>XA&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt;XX + XA&lt;sup&gt;3&lt;/sup&gt;XX mixture</td></tr><tr><td>33-&amp;alpha;-L-Arabinofuranosyl-xylotetraose (XA3XX)</td><td>Megazyme Ltd., Wicklow, Ireland</td><td>O-XA3XX</td><td>Pure XA&lt;sup&gt;3&lt;/sup&gt;XX standard</td></tr><tr><td>Eppendorf Safe-Lock Tubes, 1.5 mL, Eppendorf Quality, colorless, 1,000 tubes</td><td>Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany</td><td>0030120086</td><td>Used to prepare the carbohydrate stock solution and dilution</td></tr><tr><td>FALCON 50 mL Polypropylene Conical Tube 30 x 115 mm</td><td>Corning Science M&amp;eacute;xico S.A. de C.V., Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico</td><td>352070</td><td>Used to prepare the aqueous stock solution of 100 mM LiCl</td></tr><tr><td>Lithium Chloride (ACS reagent, &amp;ge;99 %)</td><td>Sigma-Aldrich Inc., Saint Quentin Fallavier, France</td><td>310468</td><td>Used to dope the sample with lithium</td></tr><tr><td>Major Mix IMS/Tof Calibration Kit</td><td>Waters Corp., Wilmslow, UK</td><td>186008113</td><td>Calibration solution for MS and IMS</td></tr><tr><td>MassLynx 4.2 SCN1016 Release 6 (Waters Embedded Analyser Platform for Cyclic IMS 2.9.1 Release 9)</td><td>Waters Corp., Wilmslow, UK</td><td>721022377</td><td>Cyclic IMS vendor software for instrument control and data processing</td></tr><tr><td>Methanol for HPLC PLUS Gradient grade</td><td>Carlo-Erba Reagents, Val de Reuil, France</td><td>412383</td><td>High-purity solvent</td></tr><tr><td>MS Leucine Enkephaline Kit</td><td>Waters Corp., Wilmslow, UK</td><td>700002456</td><td>Reference compound used for tuning of the mass spectrometer</td></tr><tr><td>SCHOTT DURAN 100 mL borosilicate glass bottle</td><td>VWR INTERNATIONAL, Radnor, Pennsylvania, US</td><td>218012458</td><td>Used to prepare the solution of 500 &amp;micro;M LiCl in 50:50 MeOH/Water</td></tr><tr><td>SELECT SERIES Cyclic IMS</td><td>Waters Corp., Wilmslow, UK</td><td>186009432</td><td>Ion mobility-mass spectrometer equipped with a cylic IMS cell</td></tr><tr><td>Website: http://mzmine.github.io/</td><td>MZmine Development Team</td><td>-</td><td>Link to download the MZmine software</td></tr><tr><td>Website: https://github.com/siollivier/IM-MN</td><td>INRAE, UR BIA, BIBS Facility, Nantes, France</td><td>-</td><td>Link to an in-house R script containing a CCS calibration function</td></tr></tbody></table>

using a cyclic ion mobility spectrometer for tandem ion mobility experiments

Using a Cyclic Ion Mobility Spectrometer for Tandem Ion Mobility Experiments

Accurate characterization of chemical structures is important to understand their underlying biological mechanisms and functional properties. Mass spectrometry (MS) is a popular tool but is not always sufficient to completely unveil all structural features. For example, although carbohydrates are biologically relevant, their characterization is complicated by numerous levels of isomerism. Ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) is an interesting complement because it is sensitive to ion conformations and, thus, to isomerism. 
Furthermore, recent advances have significantly improved the technique: the last generation of Cyclic IMS instruments offers additional capabilities compared to linear IMS instruments, such as an increased resolving power or the possibility to perform tandem ion mobility (IMS/IMS) experiments. During IMS/IMS, an ion is selected based on its ion mobility, fragmented, and reanalyzed to obtain ion mobility information about its fragments. Recent work showed that the mobility profiles of the fragments contained in such IMS/IMS data can act as a fingerprint of a particular glycan and can be used in a molecular networking strategy to organize glycomics datasets in a structurally relevant way. 
The goal of this protocol is thus to describe how to generate IMS/IMS data, from sample preparation to the final Collision Cross Section (CCS) calibration of the ion mobility dimension that yields reproducible spectra. Taking the example of one representative glycan, this protocol will show how to build an IMS/IMS control sequence on a Cyclic IMS instrument, how to account for this control sequence to translate IMS arrival time into drift time (i.e., the effective separation time applied to the ions), and how to extract the relevant mobility information from the raw data. This protocol is designed to clearly explain the critical points of an IMS/IMS experiment and thus help new Cyclic IMS users perform straightforward and reproducible acquisitions.

An arabinoxylan pentasaccharide, XA2XX, was chosen as an example to illustrate this protocol. This compound is commercially available, but only as a mixture with another arabinoxylan pentasaccharide, XA3XX (pure XA3XX is also commercially available). The structures of XA2XX and XA3XX are given in Supplemental Figure S1. As the ratio of XA2XX and XA3XX in the commercial mixture is ~50:50, a solution at 20 µg/mL of the mixture was...

Ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) is an interesting complement to mass spectrometry for the characterization of biomolecules, notably because it is sensitive to isomerism. This protocol describes a tandem IMS (IMS/IMS) experiment, which allows the isolation of a molecule and the generation of the mobility profiles of its fragments.

Accurate characterization of chemical structures is important to understand their underlying biological mechanisms and functional properties. Mass ...

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Learn tandem ion mobility spectrometry for biomolecular characterization using a cyclic IMS instrument. This method enables effective discrimination of isomeric structures and classification of glycans into distinct groups.

Using a Cyclic Ion Mobility Spectrometer for Tandem Ion Mobility Experiments

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