Virtual Mass Spectrometry Lab Transforms Science Education
Pitt, Carnegie Mellon collaboration makes
experiments affordable, faster

By Lauren Ward

Many schools cannot afford the latest spectrometry equipment, and their students cannot conduct experiments such as determining the composition of a polymer or detecting the presence of cocaine in a hair sample. But that may soon change, thanks to the development of the first virtual mass spectrometry system by the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University.

This interactive Internet educational tool will enable students and researchers to learn how to solve real problems from different scientific disciplines. Dubbed the Virtual Mass Spectrometry Laboratory (VMSL), this computerized tool was presented March 23 at the 225th annual meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS) in New Orleans.

“Since the VMSL is carefully designed to allow students great freedom with no risks, we believe it will engage them via the discovery process in a way traditional course experiments rarely can,” said Joseph Grabowski, professor of chemistry at Pitt and codeveloper of the system.

“The system will allow us to educate many more undergraduate students at one time in challenging technologies that are increasingly essential for conducting much of today’s research,” said codeveloper Mark Bier, director of the Mellon College of Science’s Center for Molecular Analysis in Carnegie Mellon’s Department of Chemistry.

According to Bier, who presented the results of his and Grabowski’s polymer case study at the ACS meeting, typically only one or two students at a time can use a mass spectrometer. Moreover, in many universities, faculty are using this equipment for their own studies. VMSL (http://chemed.chem.pitt.edu/vmsl/default0.htm) allows many more students to learn at the same time, doing so without interrupting ongoing faculty research.

Smaller colleges that cannot afford the instrumentation, which costs about $1 million, also could use VMSL to introduce their science students to mass spectrometers and cross-disciplinary case studies. In fact, most small colleges do not have the mass spectrometers that make up the VMSL, according to Bier.

The VMSL experiments also are completed quickly, in about three hours. A typical protein identification analysis performed in the laboratory might take two or more days to complete, depending upon the quality of the sample being studied. Moreover, the computer requirements for logging onto VMSL are minimal, ensuring that virtually anyone with Internet access can log on and navigate the site. (See below.)

The VMSL system incorporates four different kinds of mass spectrometers, each of which is used to study the composition of such compounds, as proteins, polymers, or small molecules based on their molecular weight and electric charge.

The system connects the student to data files stored from one of the four mass spectrometers with one of three VMSL servers, two located at Carnegie Mellon and one at Pitt. An Internet user can log on to the VMSL remotely to select one of four case studies. These include identification of a protein, analysis of an unknown anesthetic, detection of cocaine in a hair sample, or determination of a polymer’s composition.

A student conducting an analysis first reads background information about the case then goes to the virtual lab to prepare the sample. In the protein case, for instance, the student must first virtually “digest” the protein to create smaller peptides that are introduced into one of the mass spectrometers for analysis.

In the polymer case, a student must analyze several polymers so that he or she can choose the proper combination to meet the specifications of a polymer-containing product under design. After preparing the sample and introducing it into the mass spectrometer, the student must set the instrument controls and calibrate it using a known standard compound, or calibrant. The student then acquires the data in the form of a plot called a mass spectrum and interprets the data.

“Our system helps create a ‘real-life’ experience for students, not a recipe-driven experiment, as is typically encountered in an undergraduate laboratory,” said Bier.

The VMSL contains four entertaining case studies, such as analyzing an animal blood protein or an unknown anesthetic found in a medical bag thought to belong to a Civil War-era physician.

“Our next step is to expand the use of the VMSL in the classroom and evaluate its effectiveness in preparing students to use the real mass spectrometers to solve real problems,” added Grabowski.

This research is funded by the National Science Foundation.

Using VMSL

The Virtual Mass Spectrometry Laboratory runs rapidly on most computers, in part, because a large 250 kilobyte spectrum is compressed into a 1-to-5 kilobyte graphics interchange format file (GIF) before transmission from the server to the Internet user’s computer. Hundreds of actual spectra are stored on the VMSL servers for each spectrometer, and any one can be converted into a GIF image and sent to an experimenter, depending upon what experimental instrument parameters are used in an analysis.

No additional software is required to run VMSL other than an Internet browser, a program to manipulate molecules in space (CHIME tutorial), and a program to run virtual lab movies (QuickTime, Microsoft Corp.). This user-friendly strategy thus allows the programmers to update the VMSL for all users at once.