Nanotechnology A new technique for fragmentation of small metabolites combining nanoparticle assisted laser desorption/ionization (LDI)-MS and MS/MS is reported by Kun Qian et al. in their Research Article on page 11310.

A magnetite/oxidized carbon nanotube composite, Fe(3)O(4)@SiO(2)/OCNT, was fabricated in a simple way, and it was successfully used as a magnetic solid-phase extraction sorbent and a significant matrix of the matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) for the detection of benzo[a]pyrene (BaP).

We describe a simple protocol to inactivate the biosafety level 3 (BSL3) pathogens Brucella prior to their analysis by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry. This method is also effective for several other bacterial pathogens and allows storage, and eventually shipping, of inactivated samples; therefore, it might be routinely applied to unidentified bacter...

Graphium basitruncatum, a synanamorph of Pseudoallescheria has been rarely reported in human infections. We report a case of subcutaneous phaeohyphomycosis caused by this fungus in a heart transplant recipient. We also describe the phenotypic, molecular methods and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) used to achieve isolate identification.

We report a sensitive method for selective detection of target metabolites from the central metabolic pathway by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry (MS), in which the MS signal is enhanced by up to three orders of magnitude in the course of in situ enzymatic amplification.

METHODS. Human trabecular meshwork cells from five donors were cultured for 3 days with 1 ng/mL of either TGF1 or 2. Changes in gene expression determined with gene microarrays and alterations in protein expression detected by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ ionization-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) were studied in these cells after the...

We present the first two cases of Kingella kingae keratitis in adults. This species is a rare isolate from ophthalmic samples for which final identification was obtained with matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry. One of the patients recovered uneventfully with topical therapy. Results from the second patient cannot be confirmed as he was lost to follow-up.

Forty-two putative Cryptococcus laurentii isolates identified by the Vitek 2 system were collected in China. The gold standard, internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequencing, confirmed that only two isolates were genuine C. laurentii. Bruker Biotyper matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry was able to identify the C. laurentii isolates with an expanded custom...

From 2008 to 2013, 39 Helcococcus kunzii strains were collected from human clinical specimens (79% from foot ulcers), and 85% of the 39 patients were infected. Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry and molecular methods accurately identified all isolates. This large study of clinical observations confirms the potential pathogenic role of H. kun...

Conventional methods for the identification of human-pathogenic aerococci to the species level are not reliable. We show that matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry correctly identifies aerococci to the species level and that it can be used to identify aerococci with high specificity in the diagnostic clinical microbiology laboratory.