Elemental imaging mass spectrometry of thin sections of tissues and analysis of brain proteins in gels by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

Abstract

Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) has become established as a very efficient and sensitive trace and surface analytical technique in the life sciences. We applied LA-ICP-MS to produce images for investigating the spatial element distribution as well as the layered structures and inhomogeneities in thin tissue sections (e.g., human and rat brain tissues). In order to quantify the analytical data, matrix-matched laboratory standards were prepared and analyzed by applying the optimized experimental parameters using LA-ICP-MS. Furthermore, the possibility of the nanometer-scale analysis of elements on sample surfaces by near-field LA-ICP-MS on soft matter (e.g., on 2D gels and biological samples) will be discussed briefly. This novel technique opens up a new challenging path for future applications in the quantitative imaging of elements in life sciences and nanotechnologies.

Comparative imaging of P, S, Fe, Cu, Zn and C in thin sections of rat brain tumor as well as control tissues by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

“…The images were plotted using programming script in MATLAB®6.5 computing software. Further details about the measurement procedure are given elsewhere [18,30,35,36].…”

“…For quantification purposes, synthetically laboratory standards were prepared as described in detail elsewhere [30,36]. In brief, three slices of the same rat brain tissue (each~0.65 g) were spiked with 100 µL of standard solutions containing known concentrations of selected elements (P, S, Fe, Cu and Zn).…”

Laser ablation ICP-MS for quantitative biomedical applications

“…Examples of the former include the use of a CRM (LGC 7112) for single-point calibration in the quantification of trace elements in sheep liver [14] or the use of pressed pellets of CRMs (TORT-2, DOLT-2 and DORM-2) for the quantification of Cu, Zn and Fe in rat brain sections [31]. However, the most commonly employed calibration strategy is based on the use of matrix-matched standards prepared by spiking the tissues of interest with known amounts of aqueous standards [8,[19][20][21][22][36][37][38]. Briefly, a set of matrix-matched homogenised laboratory standards with defined elemental concentrations are prepared.…”

Laser bidezko ablazioaren egungo egoera eta aplikazioak

“…Metalek ehun biologikoen sekzio finetan duten banaketa irudikatzea edo mapping-a (bioimaging) interes biologikoa duten elementuei buruzko informazio fisiopatologikoa, farmakologikoa eta toxikologikoa eskaintzen duen erronka analitiko berria da [55,56].…”