?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.relation=http%3A%2F%2Fd-scholarship-dev.library.pitt.edu%2F8856%2F&rft.title=Mass+Spectrometric+Analysis+of+Biological+Molecules&rft.creator=Taormina%2C+Christopher+Ronald&rft.description=The+investigation+of+biological+molecules+through+electrospray+ionization+mass+spectrometry+has+expanded+over+the+past+20+years.+With+a+nanospray+source+allowing+small+volumes+to+be+analyzed%2C+perturbation+of+the+sampled+system+is+kept+to+a+minimum.+Two+studies+take+advantage+of+the+lack+of+perturbation+to+quantitate+molecules+within+biological+fluids.+The+first+focuses+on+the+concentration+of+glucose+in+tears.+A+quantitative+method+is+developed+to+determine+the+concentration+of+glucose+in+human+tears.+Aqueous+solutions+of+known+glucose+concentrations+and+induced+tears+are+used+to+validate+the+method.+Non-diabetic+and+diabetic+subjects'+tears+are+sampled.+After+overnight+fasting%2C+non-diabetic+tear+glucose+concentration+is+shown+to+be+28+%C2%B1+14+%CE%BCM.+Tear+glucose+concentrations+from+samples+taken+before+and+after+a+meal+are+compared+to+the+subjects'+blood+glucose+concentrations.+The+second+study+that+dealt+with+small+biological+fluid+volumes+sought+to+quantitate+neuropeptides+within+a+rat's+cerebrospinal+fluid.+A+tapered+fused+silica+capillary+is+used+to+obtain+cerebrospinal+fluid+in+order+to+minimize+damage+to+the+brain.+It+was+demonstrated+that+the+matrix+in+the+collected+biological+fluid+caused+the+limit-of-quantitation+of+the+method+to+be+above+the+neuropeptide+concentration+within+the+sample.Protein-RNA+complexes+are+also+explored+through+ESI-MS.+The+observation+of+proteins+and+RNA+is+demonstrated.+Further+experiments+are+performed+to+determine+how+many+monomers+of+neuroblastoma+apoptosis-related+protein+bind+to+RNA+during+replication.+In+addition+to+these+biological+inquiries%2C+a+few+silyl+containing+compounds+are+examined.+Different+ionization+techniques+and+collision-induced-dissociation+are+used+to+characterize+hexamethyldisiloxane%2C+tert-butoxy+trimethylsilane%2C+and+2-trimethylsiloxy-propene+to+determine+if+they+can+differentiate+volatile+organic+compounds.+Collision-induced-dissocitaion+of+the+silyl+ions+with+argon%2C+acetone-d6%2C+and+propanal+as+the+collision+gas+provided+structural+identification+and+possible+isomer+discrimination.+Results+show+that+the+ion+originating+from+the+loss+of+a+methyl+group+from+hexamethyldisiloxane+can+provide+an+avenue+to+distinguish+between+acetone+and+propanal.&rft.date=2007-09-27&rft.type=University+of+Pittsburgh+ETD&rft.type=PeerReviewed&rft.format=application%2Fpdf&rft.language=en&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fd-scholarship-dev.library.pitt.edu%2F8856%2F1%2FTaorminaCR_ETD2007.pdf&rft.identifier=++Taormina%2C+Christopher+Ronald++(2007)+Mass+Spectrometric+Analysis+of+Biological+Molecules.++Doctoral+Dissertation%2C+University+of+Pittsburgh.++++(Unpublished)++