Ambient Single-Cell Analysis and Native Tissue Imaging Using Laser-Ablation Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry with Increased Spatial Resolution
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Laser-ablation electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LAESI-MS) is an emerging method that has the potential to transform the field of metabolomics. This is in part due to LAESI-MS being an ambient ionization method that requires minimal sample preparation and uses (endogenous) water for in situ analysis. This application note details the employment of the “LAESI microscope” source to perform spatially resolved MS analysis of cells and MS imaging (MSI) of tissues at high spatial resolution. This source configuration utilizes a long-working-distance reflective objective that permits both visualization of the sample and a smaller LAESI laser beam profile than conventional LAESI setups. Here, we analyzed 200 single cells of Allium cepa (red onion) and imaged Fittonia argyroneura (nerve plant) in high spatial resolution using this source coupled to a Fourier transform mass spectrometer for high-mass-resolution and high-mass-accuracy metabolomics.
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Innovations for unbiased mass spectrometry-based studies are evolving to query a larger swath of the proteome and metabolome with spatial orientation in tissues, although these methods are still fairly limited in throughput and resolution, restricting their application to mapping rare senescent cells.
“As an alternative to antibody-based methods, innovations for unbiased mass spectrometry-based studies are evolving to query a larger swath of the proteome and metabolome with spatial orientation in tissues, although these methods are still fairly limited in throughput and resolution43,44, restricting their application to mapping rare senescent cells.”
From Spatial mapping of cellular senescence: emerging challenges and opportunities (2023) · cites this paper as [43]
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- Authors
- Taylor, M. J., Liyu, A., Vertes, A., & Anderton, C. R.
- Affiliations
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (US)
- Department of Chemistry, The George Washington University, Washington, D.C. 20052, United States
- Corresponding author
- Anderton, Christopher R.
- Venue
- Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry
- Publisher
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- Published
- 2021-08-10
- Volume
- 32
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- 2490-2494
- ISSN
- 1044-0305 (ISSN-L)
- 1879-1123
- OpenAlex
- W3191777733
- Cited by
- 43
- References
- 21
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 2
- FWCI
- 2.83
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.osti.gov
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- OSTI OAI (U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- U.S. Department of Energy (DE-AC05-76RL01830)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Chemistry › Spectroscopy › Mass Spectrometry Techniques and Applications
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Metabolomics and Mass Spectrometry Studies
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Mechanics of Materials › Laser-induced spectroscopy and plasma
- Keywords
- ambient ionization, single-cell analysis, tissue imaging, spatial resolution, onion, Fourier transform mass spectrometry
- MeSH terms
- Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Onions, Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization, Metabolomics, Molecular Imaging, Single-Cell Analysis
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