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IR-MALDESI Mass Spectrometry Imaging of Biological Tissue Sections Using Ice as a Matrix

  • Research Article
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Journal of The American Society for Mass Spectrometry

Abstract

Infrared matrix-assisted laser desorption electrospray ionization (IR-MALDESI) mass spectrometry imaging of biological tissue sections using a layer of deposited ice as an energy-absorbing matrix was investigated. Dynamics of plume ablation were first explored using a nanosecond exposure shadowgraphy system designed to simultaneously collect pictures of the plume with a camera and collect the Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance FT-ICR mass spectrum corresponding to that same ablation event. Ablation of fresh tissue analyzed with and without using ice as a matrix were compared using this technique. Effect of spot-to-spot distance, number of laser shots per pixel, and tissue condition (matrix) on ion abundance were also investigated for 50 μm-thick tissue sections. Finally, the statistical method called design of experiments was used to compare source parameters and determine the optimal conditions for IR-MALDESI of tissue sections using deposited ice as a matrix. With a better understanding of the fundamentals of ablation dynamics and a systematic approach to explore the experimental space, it was possible to improve ion abundance by nearly one order of magnitude.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support received from the National Institutes of Health (R01GM087964) and North Carolina State University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. W.M. Keck Fourier Transform Mass Spectrometry Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA

    Guillaume Robichaud, Jeremy A. Barry & David C. Muddiman

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  1. Guillaume Robichaud
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  2. Jeremy A. Barry
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  3. David C. Muddiman
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Correspondence to David C. Muddiman.

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Robichaud, G., Barry, J.A. & Muddiman, D.C. IR-MALDESI Mass Spectrometry Imaging of Biological Tissue Sections Using Ice as a Matrix. J. Am. Soc. Mass Spectrom. 25, 319–328 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13361-013-0787-6

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