The use of MALDI MSI for the study of different tissues

The matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) technique was introduced by Karas et al. in 1985 [1]. Three years later, the same research group published a first study on the utilization of this ionization method for mass spectrometry of proteins [2]. Since its introduction, MALDI mass spectrometry was developed rapidly. Nowadays, it is routinely used for characterization of peptides, proteins and identification of bacteria. Because of its soft biomolecules ionization, MALDI was found to be useful for mass spectrometry imaging of a variety of samples where information regarding the spatial distribution of molecules is needed. At the turn of the third millennium, MALDI mass spectrometry imaging (MALDI MSI, MALDI imaging) was firstly applied for the determination of protein expression in mammalian tissues [3]. Usually, MALDI is combined with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOF MS), because it measures complete mass spectra over wide mass ranges at the same time [4]. There also exist other types of mass spectrometers connected with MALDI, such as Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometers (FT-ICR MS) or linear ion trap with orbitrap mass spectrometers (LTQ Orbitrap MS) [5-7]. Currently, the MALDI MSI technique is the subject of comprehensive research to improve it in different ways – time of analysis [8,9], spatial resolution [10], and sensitivity and detection of different analytes [11,12]. Information gained from MALDI MSI can be correlated with immunohistochemical images [13] or with images from other techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) [14] or laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry/atomic emission spectrometry (LA-ICP MS/AES) [15]. There exist several extensive reviews on recent progress in MALDI MSI and on the development of MALDI imaging techniques that are recommended to readers with interest in this field [16-18]. In the following paragraphs, a brief description of the current state of the use of MALDI MSI in research on different analytes in tissues will be given.

Figure 1: The scheme of typical MALDI MSI workflow.

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