Phelps Mandy, Hamilton Jason, Verbeck Guido F
Department of Chemistry, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas 76203, USA.
Rev Sci Instrum. 2014 Dec;85(12):124101. doi: 10.1063/1.4902322.
Electrospray mass spectrometry is now a widely used technique for observing cell content of various biological tissues. However, electrospray techniques (liquid chromatography and direct infusion) often involve lysing a group of cells and extracting the biomolecules of interest, rather than a sensitive, individual cell method to observe local chemistry. Presented here is an approach of combining a nanomanipulator workstation with nanospray mass spectrometry, which allows for extraction of a single cell, followed by rapid mass analysis that can provide a detailed metabolic profile. Triacylglycerol content was profiled with this tool coupled to mass spectrometry to investigate heterogeneity between healthy and tumorous tissues as well as lipid droplet containing adipocytes in vitro as proof of concept. This selective approach provides cellular resolution and complements existing bioanalytical techniques with minimal invasion to samples. In addition, the coupling of nanomanipulation and mass spectrometry holds the potential to be used in a great number of applications for individual organelles, diseased tissues, and in vitro cell cultures for observing heterogeneity even amongst cells and organelles of the same tissue.
电喷雾质谱法如今是一种广泛用于观察各种生物组织细胞内容物的技术。然而，电喷雾技术（液相色谱法和直接进样法）通常涉及裂解一组细胞并提取感兴趣的生物分子，而不是一种用于观察局部化学的灵敏的单细胞方法。本文介绍了一种将纳米操纵工作站与纳米喷雾质谱法相结合的方法，该方法允许提取单个细胞，随后进行快速质谱分析，从而能够提供详细的代谢谱。利用该工具与质谱联用对三酰甘油含量进行了分析，以研究健康组织与肿瘤组织之间的异质性，以及体外含脂滴脂肪细胞作为概念验证。这种选择性方法提供了细胞分辨率，并以对样品的最小侵入补充了现有的生物分析技术。此外，纳米操纵与质谱联用有潜力用于大量针对单个细胞器、患病组织以及体外细胞培养的应用，以观察即使在同一组织的细胞和细胞器之间的异质性。
