Accelerating drug discovery using label-free MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry in uHTS

Mass spectrometry (MS) is a label-free analytical technique which enables direct quantification of molecules relevant to (patho) physiology, but the low throughput of MS used to be a bottleneck in using this technique for (ultra) high-throughput screening (uHTS). However, the recent introduction of rapifleX MALDI Pharma Pulse by Bruker, which is able to measure up to 10 samples per second, has been a complete game changer in uHTS and early drug discovery space. This technology not only holds the promise of reduced false positives and negatives caused by e.g. fluorescent labels, but also makes the hit-to-lead phase more cost-effective. Pivot Park Screening Centre (PPSC) is happy to announce the integration of rapifleX in its advanced and fully automated robotic uHTS system, handling 1536 samples per plate. During the presentation, we will give you an introduction to ultra-high throughput MALDI-TOF MS, show our fully automated set-up including spotting and measuring the sample plates, present the results of our first screens and discuss the opportunities and challenges of this promising technique.