Periodic Reporting for period 1 - MobiliTraIN (Ion Mobility Mass Spectrometry Training Network)
Reporting period: 2024-02-01 to 2026-01-31
Today, ion mobility–high-resolution mass spectrometry (IM-HRMS) is a state-of-the-art analytical platform that can measure and quantify molecules that are central to experimental sciences across disciplines. However, it still faces barriers to express its full potential across sectors. MobiliTraIN aims to unlock the vast application opportunities of IM-HRMS and the specificity this technology offers for routine analytical environments. The overarching objective of MobiliTraIN is to harmonise and standardise IM-HRMS workflows, ensuring the delivery of reliable, high-quality molecular data across health, environmental, and industrial sectors. This pathway to impact begins with generating new fundamental knowledge regarding ion structure, conformation, and the influence of measurement parameters through a combination of experimental and theoretical approaches. In large-scale biomedical studies, where extremely high throughput is needed for routine sample sizes > 1000, IM-HRMS will be advanced to deliver reliable datasets to understand disease onset and progression, supporting personalised medicine. The development of harmonised IM-HRMS non-targeted screening protocols for food, water, and human samples will address the need for rapid and accurate identification of emerging contaminants, which is critical for public health challenges. Finally, by ensuring that IM-HRMS data collection is standardised and easy to implement, MobiliTraIN will secure the long-term value and interoperability of experimental datasets from all major IM-HRMS instrument types.
• DCs collectively advanced our understanding of ion-preparation conditions, instrument-dependent resolution, and interpretation of CCS distributions to the structural behaviour of analytes in the gas phase. This work provides the scientific basis for establishing IM-HRMS as a versatile, scalable platform for structural analysis in both academic and industrial settings.
• A coherent framework combining baseline descriptors, artefact-detection rules, and resolution-dependent interpretation, applicable across all molecular sizes was developed.
• Robust IM-HRMS workflows for biotherapeutics, with dedicated developments for oligonucleotide therapeutics, monoclonal antibodies, and viral vectors were established by DCs.
• DCs were trained in handling and preparing biomolecules from various sources, including cancer cells, plasma, sebum, and established protocols for the extraction and/or analysis of proteins, lipids, nucleosides, and virus particles. The acquired skillsets will allow them to generate high-quality biological datasets (lipidomics, proteomics, nucleosides) with IM-HRMS.
• Advanced IM-HRMS methods for nucleoside and cap analysis were developed. Cycling through two different acquisition settings enables both analyte groups to be accommodated in a single measurement.
• DCs used four complementary IM-HRMS technologies (TIMS, DTIMS, TWIMS and SLIM) to harmonise analytical parameters, as well as implement effective QA/QC procedures and data treatment strategies within a vendor-agnostic workflow.
• Establishing a unified and transferable analytical framework for challenging non-targeted screening workflows, strengthening reproducibility and interoperability of datasets is underway.
• Substantial progress in establishing a harmonised temperature calibration framework supported by quantitative energy scaling and cross-platform validation was made.
• Structurally validated and computationally benchmarked collision cross section (CCS) prediction strategies were developed.
• Standardised bioanalytical workflows and a pathway to develop the first reference materials for IM-HRMS have been established.
• Combined efforts toward making calibrated IM-HRMS measurements predictable and quality-controlled across instrument platforms and laboratories are at an advanced stage.
The MobiliTraIN project website is available under www.mobilitrain.eu
• A coherent framework combining baseline descriptors, artefact-detection rules, and resolution-dependent interpretation, applicable across all molecular sizes was developed.
• Robust IM-HRMS workflows for biotherapeutics, with dedicated developments for oligonucleotide therapeutics, monoclonal antibodies, and viral vectors were established by DCs.
• DCs were trained in handling and preparing biomolecules from various sources, including cancer cells, plasma, sebum, and established protocols for the extraction and/or analysis of proteins, lipids, nucleosides, and virus particles. The acquired skillsets will allow them to generate high-quality biological datasets (lipidomics, proteomics, nucleosides) with IM-HRMS.
• Advanced IM-HRMS methods for nucleoside and cap analysis were developed. Cycling through two different acquisition settings enables both analyte groups to be accommodated in a single measurement.
• DCs used four complementary IM-HRMS technologies (TIMS, DTIMS, TWIMS and SLIM) to harmonise analytical parameters, as well as implement effective QA/QC procedures and data treatment strategies within a vendor-agnostic workflow.
• Establishing a unified and transferable analytical framework for challenging non-targeted screening workflows, strengthening reproducibility and interoperability of datasets is underway.
• Substantial progress in establishing a harmonised temperature calibration framework supported by quantitative energy scaling and cross-platform validation was made.
• Structurally validated and computationally benchmarked collision cross section (CCS) prediction strategies were developed.
• Standardised bioanalytical workflows and a pathway to develop the first reference materials for IM-HRMS have been established.
• Combined efforts toward making calibrated IM-HRMS measurements predictable and quality-controlled across instrument platforms and laboratories are at an advanced stage.
The MobiliTraIN project website is available under www.mobilitrain.eu