Ask the Expert
We’re beginning a regular feature highlighting experts and answers to questions. We begin with Kevin Yarasheski, Ph.D., senior vice president for C2N.
Question to Kevin: What is mass spectrometry and what is the role it plays in the PrecivityAD™ blood test?
Kevin’s Answer: The PrecivityAD™ test aims to help physicians better determine the presence or absence of amyloid plaques in the brain, one of the hallmark signs of Alzheimer’s disease. A critical part of this innovation is the mass spectrometry-based technique employed by C2N.
A mass spectrometer is a device that produces charged particles (ions) from biological substances and biomarkers present in complex tissues and fluids like blood. The platform then uses electric and magnetic fields to measure the mass of the charged particles.
Mass spectrometry has dramatically grown in use over the past decade as a precise analytical tool that identifies compounds based on the mass(es) of their molecular components, fragments, and their charge state(s). This has significant implications for the field of clinical diagnostics.
When used in blood tests to detect pathological markers of Alzheimer’s disease, mass spectrometers provide high analytical specificity. This technology is providing heightened levels of accuracy in pathological identification that scientists are harnessing for needed breakthroughs in medicine, such as in the field of Alzheimer’s disease . Researchers are also using it to detect the presence of COVID-19 proteins/peptides in human biofluids.
Mass spectrometry has high sensitivity and specificity for detecting and quantifying known and novel low abundance biomarkers in blood products.