Desorption Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry Imaging for Tissue Analysis

Abstract

Mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) has become a significant technique of mass spectrometry (MS) to visualize the spatial distribution of molecules such as drugs, metabolites, lipids, and proteins by their molecular masses. As a representative ambient ionization method that requires minimal or no sample preparation, desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (DESI‐MS) has been shown to have its unique strength in MSI. This article provides an overview of this powerful DESI‐MSI technique, including its basic principle, instrumentation, sample preparation, method optimization, 2D and 3D imaging, quantitation, statistical analysis, software, and its applications in pharmaceutical, clinical, biomedical, plant, microbial, and forensic researches.

Mass spectrometry imaging advances and application in pharmaceutical research

“…This advantage makes SIM the first choice for observing cellular or sub-cellular biological process for in vitro drug research [12,13]. Considering that this review emphasizes pharmaceutical applications, more details in ionization principles, instrumentation, and underlying mechanisms will not be exhaustively elaborated, which can be referenced to the corresponding literature according to the reader's special interests [14][15][16].…”

Hydrogen–Deuterium Exchange Desorption Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry Visualizes an Acidic Tumor Microenvironment

“…A recent review of this topic has been made by Eberlin and co-workers . In a DESI-MSI experiment, the metabolites in a tissue section are desorbed, ionized, and transported into a mass spectrometer by charged solvent microdroplets . The ability of DESI-MSI to provide a chemical map of tissue metabolites in a rapid manner without sample pretreatment has encouraged its use.…”