Context rich mass spectrometry of molecular localization and cellular interaction

The work seeks to expand the mass spectrometry analysis of taged exosome samples. One of the current challenges in mass spectrometry analysis of immobilized exosomes is the limited sample available for analysis. However, it is critical to assess individual exosomes, as it allows for correlation of protein expression/co-expression with lipid content. In this work we will expand the capabilities of mass spectrometry analysis at the nanoscale to qualitatively study the lipid content of immobilized exosomes. We will first focus on identifying classes of lipids that are present in the exosomes and in a second step we will identify the class of lipids that co-localize with tagged proteins. The effort will focus on mass spectrometry analysis of data collected by the project collaborators and development of new software tools for mass spectrometry analysis of exosomes. At the completion of this work it will be possible to apply mass spectrometry analysis to immobilized exosomes to correlate lipidomic data, and protein expression on healthy and patient samples to better understand the disease state of the patient.