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High-resolution atmospheric pressure infrared laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry imaging of biological tissue

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Abstract

An atmospheric pressure laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry imaging ion source has been developed that combines high spatial resolution and high mass resolution for the in situ analysis of biological tissue. The system is based on an infrared laser system working at 2.94 to 3.10 μm wavelength, employing a Nd:YAG laser-pumped optical parametrical oscillator. A Raman-shifted Nd:YAG laser system was also tested as an alternative irradiation source. A dedicated optical setup was used to focus the laser beam, coaxially with the ion optical axis and normal to the sample surface, to a spot size of 30 μm in diameter. No additional matrix was needed for laser desorption/ionization. A cooling stage was developed to reduce evaporation of physiological cell water. Ions were formed under atmospheric pressure and transferred by an extended heated capillary into the atmospheric pressure inlet of an orbital trapping mass spectrometer. Various phospholipid compounds were detected, identified, and imaged at a pixel resolution of up to 25 μm from mouse brain tissue sections. Mass accuracies of better than 2 ppm and a mass resolution of 30,000 at m/z = 400 were achieved for these measurements.

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Acknowledgments

Financial support by the Bundesministerium fuer Bildung und Forschung, BMBF (project 0313442), by the State of Hesse (LOEWE Research Focus “Ambiprobe”) and by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Sp 314/12-1, Sp 314/13-1) is gratefully acknowledged. We thank Wolfgang Kummer for providing the mouse samples, Lilli Walz for H&E staining of mouse tissue sections, and Zoltan Takats for providing access to the LTQ Orbitrap system (ERC starting grant 210356-DESI_JeDI-Imaging).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, Justus Liebig University, 35392, Giessen, Germany

    Andreas Römpp, Karl Christian Schäfer, Sabine Guenther, Zheng Wang, Martin Köstler, Arne Leisner, Carmen Paschke, Thorsten Schramm & Bernhard Spengler

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  1. Andreas Römpp
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  2. Karl Christian Schäfer
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  3. Sabine Guenther
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  4. Zheng Wang
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  5. Martin Köstler
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  6. Arne Leisner
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  7. Carmen Paschke
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  8. Thorsten Schramm
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  9. Bernhard Spengler
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Correspondence to Bernhard Spengler.

Additional information

Published in the topical collection Photo Ionisation in Mass Spectrometry with guest editor Ralf Zimmermann.

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Römpp, A., Schäfer, K.C., Guenther, S. et al. High-resolution atmospheric pressure infrared laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry imaging of biological tissue. Anal Bioanal Chem 405, 6959–6968 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-013-7180-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-013-7180-y

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