Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) is a promising tool for subcellular chemical analysis of biological cells. However, to obtain relevant information, the method used for sample preparation is critical. In this work, we have used TOF-SIMS, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and interference reflection microscopy (IRM) to study the effects of different fixation and drying methods on the morphology and chemical structure of human fibroblast cells (hTERT) adhered to a silicon surface. Specifically, two fixation techniques (chemical fixation with glutaraldehyde and cryofixation by plunge freezing) and two drying techniques (freeze drying and alcohol substitution drying) were investigated. Cryofixation followed by freeze drying was determined to produce dried cells with preserved cell morphology, intact cell membranes, and retained sodium/potassium ion concentration gradients across the plasma membrane. By washing samples in an aqueous solution of ammonium formate (AF) before cryofixation, the accumulation of salts on the sample surface during drying could be suppressed. IRM measurements showed that the cell morphology was preserved during washing with ammonium formate, although some swelling occurred. Compared with cryofixation, cells fixed with glutaraldehyde showed finer structures on the cell surface in SEM and similar lipid distributions in TOF-SIMS, but the sodium/potassium ion gradients were not retained. Alcohol drying was determined to remove cell membrane phospholipids significantly, although the use of osmium tetroxide as a post-fixative was shown to decrease this effect.

Mn-Anderson based polyoxometalate clusters with different terminal groups have been patterned successfully onto self-assembled monolayer (SAM) using microcontact printing. Studies of the interactions between the designed SAMs and human fibroblast (hTERT-BJ1) cells have been reported, and it was observed that cells attach and spread efficiently for monolayer presenting a terminal aromatic pyrene platform with a polyoxometalate Mn-Anderson cluster as linker, demonstrating the crucial role played by the polyoxometalate metal oxide cluster as an intermediary in cell adhesion to the surface.

We contribute to the rapidly emerging interest in the application of time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) for chemical analysis of biological materials by presenting a careful TOF-SIMS investigation of structurally different SiO2-supported phospholipid assemblies. Freeze-dried supported 1-oleoyl-2-palmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (POPC) bilayers, Langmuir-Blodgett POPC monolayers, and disordered thick POPC films were investigated. Compared with the two latter structures, the supported bilayer showed a strong (5-10 times) enhancement in the yield of both the molecular and the dimer ion peaks of POPC, suggesting that the molecular peak may be used as a sensitive indicator for changes in the membrane structure and, in particular, an indicator for the presence of bilayer structures in, e.g., cell and tissue samples. The detection efficiency and the useful lateral resolution indicate that a lateral resolution of around 100 nm can be obtained on all structures by imaging the phosphocholine ion at 184 u using Bi3+ primary ions. For the chemically specific molecular peak at 760 u, the measured detection efficiencies correspond to a useful lateral resolution of around 2 microm for the bilayer structure. The results are discussed in relation to recent dynamic SIMS (nano-SIMS) analysis of freeze-dried supported lipid bilayers, displaying similar or higher lateral resolution, but which in contrast to TOF-SIMS requires isotopic labeling of the analyzed lipids.

Skeletal muscle lipid accumulation is associated with several chronic metabolic disorders, including obesity, insulin resistance (IR) and type 2 diabetes. The aim of this study is to evaluate whether static imaging time‐of‐flight‐secondary‐ion mass spectrometry (TOF‐SIMS) equipped with a Bismuth‐cluster ion source can be used for studying skeletal muscle lipid accumulation associated with obesity. Mouse gastrocnemius muscle tissues in 10‐week‐old obese ob/ob (n = 8) and lean wild‐type C57/BL6 (n = 6) mice were analyzed by TOF‐SIMS. Our results showed that signal intensities of fatty acids (FAs) and diacylglycerols (DAGs) were significantly increased in skeletal muscle of the obese ob/ob mice as compared to the lean wild‐type mice. These differences were revealed through a global analytical approach, principal component analysis (PCA) of TOF‐SIMS spectra, and ion‐specific TOF‐SIMS images. Region‐of‐interest (ROI) analysis showed that FA signal intensities within the muscle cell were significantly increased in ob/ob mice. Moreover, analysis of the ratio between different FA peaks revealed changes in monounsaturated FAs (MUFAs) and polyunsaturated FAs (PUFAs), which is in agreement with previous reports on obesity. These changes in FA composition were also reflected in the ratio of different DAGs or phosphatidylcholines (PCs) that contain different FA residues. Imaging TOF‐SIMS together with PCA of TOF‐SIMS spectra is a promising tool for studying skeletal muscle lipid accumulation associated with obesity.