Operational Experience of an Open-Access, Subscription-Based Mass Spectrometry and Proteomics Facility

AbstractThis paper discusses the successful adoption of a subscription-based, open-access model of service delivery for a mass spectrometry and proteomics facility. In 2009, the Mass Spectrometry and Proteomics Facility at the University of Melbourne (Australia) moved away from the standard fee for service model of service provision. Instead, the facility adopted a subscription- or membership-based, open-access model of service delivery. For a low fixed yearly cost, users could directly operate the instrumentation but, more importantly, there were no limits on usage other than the necessity to share available instrument time with all other users. All necessary training from platform staff and many of the base reagents were also provided as part of the membership cost. These changes proved to be very successful in terms of financial outcomes for the facility, instrument access and usage, and overall research output. This article describes the systems put in place as well as the overall successes and challenges associated with the operation of a mass spectrometry/proteomics core in this manner. Graphical abstractᅟ

[1]  G. Howlett,et al.  A cyclic peptide inhibitor of apoC-II peptide fibril formation: mechanistic insight from NMR and molecular dynamics analysis. , 2012, Journal of molecular biology.

[2]  A. G. Wedd,et al.  Redox sulfur chemistry of the copper chaperone Atox1 is regulated by the enzyme glutaredoxin 1, the reduction potential of the glutathione couple GSSG/2GSH and the availability of Cu(I). , 2014, Metallomics : integrated biometal science.

[3]  A. Hill,et al.  A Truncated Fragment of Src Protein Kinase Generated by Calpain-mediated Cleavage Is a Mediator of Neuronal Death in Excitotoxicity* , 2013, The Journal of Biological Chemistry.

[4]  L. Gamon,et al.  Oxidative damage of aromatic dipeptides by the environmental oxidants NO2˙ and O3. , 2014, Organic & biomolecular chemistry.

[5]  N. Croft,et al.  Direct quantitation of MHC‐bound peptide epitopes by selected reaction monitoring , 2011, Proteomics.

[6]  Sze Ying Ong,et al.  A type III effector antagonises death receptor signalling during bacterial gut infection , 2013, Nature.

[7]  B. Kemp,et al.  β-subunit myristoylation functions as an energy sensor by modulating the dynamics of AMP-activated Protein Kinase , 2016, Scientific Reports.

[8]  D. Sinderen,et al.  T-cell activation by transitory neo-antigens derived from distinct microbial pathways , 2014, Nature.

[9]  G. Howlett,et al.  Solution Conditions Affect the Ability of the K30D Mutation To Prevent Amyloid Fibril Formation by Apolipoprotein C-II: Insights from Experiments and Theoretical Simulations. , 2016, Biochemistry.

[10]  Ching-Seng Ang,et al.  Huntingtin Inclusions Trigger Cellular Quiescence, Deactivate Apoptosis, and Lead to Delayed Necrosis. , 2017, Cell reports.

[11]  M. Bogoyevitch,et al.  Aurora A phosphorylation of WD40-repeat protein 62 in mitotic spindle regulation , 2016, Cell cycle.

[12]  M. Parker,et al.  Glutathione transferase P1‐1 as an arsenic drug‐sequestering enzyme , 2017, Protein science : a publication of the Protein Society.

[13]  J. Whisstock,et al.  Regulation of perforin activation and pre‐synaptic toxicity through C‐terminal glycosylation , 2017, EMBO reports.

[14]  Spencer J. Williams,et al.  YihQ is a sulfoquinovosidase that cleaves sulfoquinovosyl diacylglyceride sulfolipids. , 2016, Nature chemical biology.

[15]  D. Macmillan,et al.  Specialisation of the venom gland proteome in predatory cone snails reveals functional diversification of the conotoxin biosynthetic pathway. , 2011, Journal of proteome research.

[16]  A thiol probe for measuring unfolded protein load and proteostasis in cells , 2017, Nature Communications.

[17]  J. McCluskey,et al.  Immune self-reactivity triggered by drug-modified HLA-peptide repertoire , 2012, Nature.

[18]  Ching-Seng Ang,et al.  Monoclonal antibody-functionalized multilayered particles: targeting cancer cells in the presence of protein coronas. , 2015, ACS nano.

[19]  Christopher M Overall,et al.  Identifying and quantifying proteolytic events and the natural N terminome by terminal amine isotopic labeling of substrates , 2011, Nature Protocols.

[20]  C. Hutton,et al.  Copper binding and redox chemistry of the Aβ16 peptide and its variants: insights into determinants of copper-dependent reactivity. , 2017, Metallomics : integrated biometal science.

[21]  Ching-Seng Ang,et al.  Tim29 is a novel subunit of the human TIM22 translocase and is involved in complex assembly and stability , 2016, eLife.

[22]  C. Masters,et al.  A rigorous method to enrich for exosomes from brain tissue , 2017, Journal of extracellular vesicles.

[23]  Nicholas A Williamson,et al.  Secreted HLA recapitulates the immunopeptidome and allows in-depth coverage of HLA A*02:01 ligands. , 2012, Molecular immunology.

[24]  Nichollas E. Scott,et al.  The bacterial arginine glycosyltransferase effector NleB preferentially modifies Fas-associated death domain protein (FADD) , 2017, The Journal of Biological Chemistry.

[25]  R. Cappai,et al.  Synthetic dityrosine-linked β-amyloid dimers form stable, soluble, neurotoxic oligomers , 2013 .

[26]  Zhiheng Xu,et al.  Opposing roles for JNK and Aurora A in regulating the association of WDR62 with spindle microtubules , 2015, Journal of Cell Science.

[27]  Malcolm J. McConville,et al.  MR1 presents microbial vitamin B metabolites to MAIT cells , 2012, Nature.