Development of an Inhibitor Screening Platform via Mass Spectrometry

Commonly used methods for isolated enzyme inhibitor screening typically rely on fluorescent or chemiluminescent detection techniques that are often indirect and/or coupled assays. Mass spectrometry (MS) has been widely reported for measuring the conversion of substrates to products for enzyme assays and has more recently been demonstrated as an alternative readout system for inhibitor screening. In this report, a high-throughput mass spectrometry (HTMS) readout platform, based on the direct measurement of substrate conversion to product, is presented. The rapid ionization and desorption features of a new generation matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-triple quadrupole (MALDI-QqQ) mass spectrometer are shown