Open AccessAir Flow-Assisted Ionization Imaging Mass Spectrometry Method for Easy Whole-Body Molecular Imaging under Ambient Conditions
Author(s) -
Zhigang Luo,
Jie He,
Yi Chen,
Jie He,
Tao Gong,
Fei Tang,
Xiaohao Wang,
Ruiping Zhang,
Lan Fang Huang,
Lianfeng Zhang,
Haining Lv,
ShuangGang Ma,
Zhang Fu,
Xiaoguang Chen,
ShiShan Yu,
Zeper Abliz
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
analytical chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.117
H-Index - 332
eISSN - 1520-6882
pISSN - 0003-2700
DOI - 10.1021/ac400009s
Subject(s) - chemistry , mass spectrometry imaging , mass spectrometry , molecular imaging , biotransformation , ambient ionization , electrospray ionization , ionization , analytical chemistry (journal) , biological system , chromatography , chemical ionization , biochemistry , ion , microbiology and biotechnology , organic chemistry , in vivo , biology , enzyme
Whole-body molecular imaging is able to directly map spatial distribution of molecules and monitor its biotransformation in intact biological tissue sections. Imaging mass spectrometry (IMS), a label-free molecular imaging method, can be used to image multiple molecules in a single measurement with high specificity. Herein, a novel easy-to-implement, whole-body IMS method was developed with air flow-assisted ionization in a desorption electrospray ionization mode. The developed IMS method can effectively image molecules in a large whole-body section in open air without sample pretreatment, such as chemical labeling, section division, or matrix deposition. Moreover, the signal levels were improved, and the spatial assignment errors were eliminated; thus, high-quality whole-body images were obtained. With this novel IMS method, in situ mapping analysis of molecules was performed in adult rat sections with picomolar sensitivity under ambient conditions, and the dynamic information of molecule distribution and its biotransformation was provided to uncover molecular events at the whole-animal level. A global view of the differential distribution of an anticancer agent and its metabolites was simultaneously acquired in whole-body rat and model mouse bearing neuroglioma along the administration time. The obtained drug distribution provided rich information for identifying the targeted organs and predicting possible tumor spectrum, pharmacological activity, and potential toxicity of drug candidates.