Standke Shawna J, Colby Devon H, Bensen Ryan C, Burgett Anthony W G, Yang Zhibo
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Oklahoma.
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Oklahoma;
J Vis Exp. 2019 Jun 21(148). doi: 10.3791/59875.
Single cell mass spectrometry (SCMS) enables sensitive detection and accurate analysis of broad ranges of cellular species on the individual-cell level. The single-probe, a microscale sampling and ionization device, can be coupled with a mass spectrometer for on-line, rapid SCMS analysis of cellular constituents under ambient conditions. Previously, the single-probe SCMS technique was primarily used to measure cells immobilized onto a substrate, limiting the types of cells for studies. In the current study, the single-probe SCMS technology has been integrated with a cell manipulation system, typically used for in vitro fertilization. This integrated cell manipulation and analysis platform uses a cell-selection probe to capture identified individual floating cells and transfer the cells to the single-probe tip for microscale lysis, followed by immediate mass spectrometry analysis. This capture and transfer process removes the cells from the surrounding solution prior to analysis, minimizing the introduction of matrix molecules in the mass spectrometry analysis. This integrated setup is capable of SCMS analysis of targeted patient-isolated cells present in body fluids samples (e.g., urine, blood, saliva, etc.), allowing for potential applications of SCMS analysis to human medicine and disease biology.
单细胞质谱分析（SCMS）能够在单细胞水平上对多种细胞种类进行灵敏检测和精确分析。单探针作为一种微型采样和电离装置，可与质谱仪联用，在环境条件下对细胞成分进行在线快速SCMS分析。此前，单探针SCMS技术主要用于测量固定在基质上的细胞，限制了可研究的细胞类型。在当前研究中，单探针SCMS技术已与通常用于体外受精的细胞操作系统相结合。这个集成的细胞操作和分析平台使用细胞选择探针捕获已识别的单个悬浮细胞，并将细胞转移到单探针尖端进行微量裂解，随后立即进行质谱分析。这种捕获和转移过程在分析前将细胞从周围溶液中分离出来，最大限度地减少了质谱分析中基质分子的引入。这种集成装置能够对体液样本（如尿液、血液、唾液等）中分离出的目标患者细胞进行SCMS分析，使得SCMS分析在人类医学和疾病生物学中具有潜在应用价值。
