Thesis (Ph.D.)--Ohio University, November, 2007. / Release of full electronic text on OhioLINK has been delayed until November 30, 2008 Includes bibliographical references (leaves 147-164)

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Ohio University, November, 2007. / Title from PDF t.p. Release of full electronic text on OhioLINK has been delayed until November 30, 2008 Includes bibliographical references (leaves 147-164)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--West Virginia University, 2009. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains xiv, 118 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2004. / Advisor: Dr. Alan Marshall, Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed June 1, 2005). Document formatted into pages; contains xix, 146 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Rutgers University, 2007. / "Graduate Program in Chemistry and Chemical Biology." Includes bibliographical references (p. 269-270).

Various small molecules act as neurotransmitters and orchestrate neural communication. Growing evidence suggests that not only classical neurotransmitters but also several small molecules, including amino acid derivatives, modulate synaptic transmission. As conditions of acute and chronic pain alter neuronal excitability in the nucleus accumbens, we hypothesized that small molecules released in the nucleus accumbens might play important roles in modulating the pain sensation. However, it is not easy to identify possible pain modulators owing to the absence of a method for comprehensively measuring extracellular small molecules in the brain. In this study, through the use of an emerging metabolomics technique, namely ion chromatography coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry, we simultaneously analyzed the dynamics of more than 60 small molecules in brain fluids collected by microdialysis, under both the application of pain stimuli and the administration of analgesics. We identified N-acetylaspartylglutamate as a potential pain modulator that is endogenously released in the nucleus accumbens. Infusion of N-acetylaspartylglutamate into the nucleus accumbens significantly attenuated the pain induced by the activation of sensory nerves through optical stimulation. These findings suggest that N-acetylaspartylglutamate released in the nucleus accumbens could modulate pain sensation.

Preparative mass spectrometry is an important method for the synthesis of new materials. Recently, soft landing mass spectrometry has been used to land ions on surfaces to coat or otherwise alter them. Commercial soft landing instruments do not yet exist, and the physical phenomenon of soft landing has not yet been fully described. For future ion mobility soft landing research, the theory of ion mobility, ion optics and soft landing is discussed, and 2 soft landing instruments have been built and described, along with proof of concept experiments for both instruments. Simulations of the process of ion mobility and ion optics for use in these instruments, as well as some preliminary results for the optics are included. Surfaces described include copper on mica and iron on silicon. Self assembly of soft landed ions is observed on the surfaces. The instruments constructed will be useful for future soft landing research, and soft landing can be used for future materials research with special attention focused on the self-assembly of the landed ions.

No description available.

One of new techniques in the field of analytical chemistry, which has more and more practical use, is mass spectrometry imaging. With its ability to record representation of substances in samples during the tissue analyze arise problem with a lot of output data which needs to be handled programmatically. The goal of this work is to create an software for processing and visualization data of new standard imzML. As a part of the work, the field of mass spectrometry, primarily MALDI TOF mass spectrometry, is briefly introduced. There are also introduced some methods for mass spectrometry data preprocessing. The work also contains a summary of current state of available software for processing and visualization of mass spectrometry data. With requests from cooperating laboratory a novel software is designed and implemented, which besides the visualization itself, can preprocess the data for example data smoothing with Savitzky-Golay method, internal calibration or peak detection with continuous wavelet transformation. The software was successfully tested on real data sets.

The capability to characterize disease states by way of determining novel biomarkers has led to a high demand of single cell and organelle analytical methodologies due to the unexpected heterogeneity present in cells of the same type. Lipids are of particular interest in the search for biomarkers due to their active roles in cellular metabolism and energy storage. Analyzing localized lipid chemistry from individual cells and organelles is challenging however, due to low analyte volume, limited discriminate instrumentation, and common requirements of separation procedures and expenditure of cell sample. Using nanomanipulation in combination with mass spectrometry, individual cells and organelles can be extracted from tissues and cultures in vitro to determine if heterogeneity at the cellular level is present. The discriminate extraction of a single cell or organelle allows the remainder of cell culture or tissue to remain intact, while the high sensitivity and chemical specificity of mass spectrometry provides structural information for limited volumes without the need for chromatographic separation. Mass analysis of lipids extracted from individual cells can be carried out in multiple mass spectrometry platforms through direct-inject mass spectrometry using nanoelectrospray-ionization and through matrix-assisted laser/desorption ionization.