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TY - JOUR AU - Northen, Trent R. AU - Yanes, Oscar AU - Northen, Michael T. AU - Marrinucci, Dena AU - Uritboonthai, Winnie AU - Apon, Junefredo AU - Golledge, Stephen L. AU - Nordström, Anders AU - Siuzdak, Gary PY - 2007 DA - 2007/10/01 TI - Clathrate nanostructures for mass spectrometry JO - Nature SP - 1033 EP - 1036 VL - 449 IS - 7165 AB - Mass spectrometry has great potential for detecting biomolecules, but existing methods have several drawbacks, including a lack of sensitivity and the need for a matrix of molecules to promote analyte ionization. A dramatic new technique, using laser or ion beams to vaporize materials from nano-scale capsules, could overcome these limitations. It involves a specially prepared surface containing 'initiator' molecules that erupt violently when irradiated. This explosion releases ionized analyte molecules that were adsorbed to the surface, freeing them for detection. The method, dubbed NIMS (for nanostructure-initiator mass spectrometry), can analyse very small areas with extremely high sensitivity, allowing analysis of peptide microarrays, blood, urine and single cells, and it can even be used for tissue imaging. SN - 1476-4687 UR - https://doi.org/10.1038/nature06195 DO - 10.1038/nature06195 ID - Northen2007 ER -