Abstract
Mass cytometry is a novel cell-by-cell analysis technique, which uses elemental tags instead of fluorophores. Sample cells undergo rapid ionization in inductively coupled plasma and the ionized elemental tags are then analyzed by means of time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Benefits of the mass cytometry approach are in no need for compensation, the high number of detection channels (up to 100) and low background noise. In this work, we applied a biotinylated aptamer against human PTK7 receptor for characterization of positive (human acute lymphoblastic leukemia) and negative (human Burkitt’s lymphoma) cells by a mass cytometry instrument. Our proof of principal experiments showed that biotinylated aptamers in conjunction with metal-labeled neutravidin can be successfully utilized for mass cytometry experiments at par with commercially available antibodies.
Biotinylated aptamers in conjunction with metal-labeled neutravidin bind to cell biomarkers, and then injected into the inductively coupled plasma (ICP) source, where cells are vaporized, atomized, and ionized in the plasma for subsequent mass spectrometry (MS) analysis of lanthanide metals.
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Funding
This work was funded by an NSERC Engage grant (grant number EGP/ 471011-2014).
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Alexandre Bouzekri, Jessica Watson, Olga Loboda, and Olga Ornatsky are employees of Fluidigm Canada. The authors Gleb G. Mironov and Maxim V. Berezovski declare that they have no conflict of interest.
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Mironov, G.G., Bouzekri, A., Watson, J. et al. Aptamer-facilitated mass cytometry. Anal Bioanal Chem 410, 3047–3051 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-018-1011-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-018-1011-0