Advances in High‐resolution Maldi Mass Spectrometry for Neurobiology

Abstract

Research in the field of neurobiology and neurochemistry has seen a rapid expansion in the last several years due to advances in technologies and instrumentation, facilitating the detection of biomolecules critical to the complex signaling of neurons. Part of this growth has been due to the development and implementation of high-resolution Fourier transform (FT) mass spectrometry (MS), as is offered by FT ion cyclotron resonance (FTICR) and Orbitrap mass analyzers, which improves the accuracy of measurements and helps resolve the complex biological mixtures often analyzed in the nervous system. The coupling of matrixassisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) with high-resolution MS has drastically expanded the information that can be obtained with these complex samples. This review discusses notable technical developments in MALDI-FTICR and MALDI-Orbitrap platforms and their applications toward molecules in the nervous system, including sequence elucidation and profiling with de novo sequencing, analysis of post-translational modifications, in situ analysis, key advances in sample preparation and handling, quantitation, and imaging. Notable novel applications are also discussed to highlight key developments critical to advancing our understanding of neurobiology and providing insight into the exciting future of this field.

Evaluation of 6 MALDI-Matrices for 10 μm Lipid Imaging and On-Tissue MSn with AP-MALDI-Orbitrap

“…The achievable spatial resolution depends on the target molecules, the matrix properties, and the laser beam focus. For lipids, 5–10 μm has been demonstrated, and proteins are usually imaged at 50–100 μm (better spatial resolutions for lipids and proteins have been demonstrated with, e.g., t-MALDI-2). ,− …”

Mass spectrometry‐based strategies for single‐cell metabolomics

“…It is highly desirable to further increase MS instrument sensitivity (Ali et al, 2019; DeLaney et al, 2020; Spitzer & Nolan, 2016). Although MS has been improved significantly in the recent decade, its sensitivity is still not adequate to cover most low abundance metabolites (attomole range or even lower) (Ibáñez et al, 2013; Li, Wang, et al, 2020).…”

The application of mass spectrometry imaging in traditional Chinese medicine: a review

“…The first application of MALDI in molecular imaging of peptides and proteins was carried out by Captrioli et al in 1997, providing mass images of peptides and proteins in biological samples collected from rats and humans [ 67 ]. Since then, MALDI-MSI was applied to various areas including cancer research [ 68 ], neurobiology [ 69 ], and pharmaceutical development [ 70 , 71 ]. The expansion of MALDI-MSI from two dimensions to three dimensions was initiated by Crecelius et al in 2005 [ 72 ].…”