Baltimore — At the 73rd Annual Conference on Mass Spectrometry and Allied Topics (ASMS), Bruker Corporation announced the launch of its next-generation mass spectrometry platform, the timsUltra AIP, which introduces a new level of ultra-high sensitivity to 4D-Proteomics™. The upgraded system is powered by the Athena Ion Processor (AIP), a technological breakthrough that delivers substantial improvements in peptide and protein identification—up to 35% and 20% respectively—making it especially powerful for studies with extremely limited biological material.
Designed to tackle complex and sample-scarce challenges in biology and medicine, the timsUltra AIP system enables more precise proteomic analyses in areas such as single-cell proteomics, fine-needle aspiration (FNA) tumor biopsy immunopeptidomics, and metaproteomics. The AIP technology enhances fragment ion transfer and optimizes TOF (time-of-flight) sampling, boosting both the depth and accuracy of proteomic measurements.
The system’s capabilities have already drawn praise from leading researchers. Dr. Jennifer Van Eyk of Cedars-Sinai highlighted its impact on cardiovascular studies, noting that the system enabled deeper insights into individual cardiomyocytes. At Northeastern University, Professor Nikolai Slavov observed a threefold increase in sensitivity for peptide fragment ions, advancing the frontier of single-cell proteomics, even for delicate samples like red blood cell precursors.
The platform also addresses the demanding requirements of metaproteomics, where vast microbial diversity and overlapping protein sequences often hinder accurate detection. Dr. David Gómez-Varela of the University of Vienna noted that the timsUltra AIP allows for the detection of bacterial peptides at sub-picogram levels, essentially capturing the proteome of a single bacterium. This breakthrough, he said, opens up new opportunities to understand microbial ecosystems at an unprecedented level of detail.
Early data suggests that when combined with the new Evosep Eno nLC system, the timsUltra AIP can identify over 5,000 proteins from a sample as small as a single HeLa cell (250 picograms) with a throughput of 100 samples per day. Even at ultra-high throughput levels of 500 samples per day, more than 2,000 proteins can be identified in under 2.5 minutes per injection.
Bruker’s latest advancement positions the timsUltra AIP system as a major leap forward for applications demanding both exceptional sensitivity and high-throughput performance, such as rapid neoantigen discovery, precision biopsy profiling, and global microbiome analysis.
