Department of Orthopedics, Tianjin Hospital, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300211, China.
State Key Laboratory of Heavy Oil Processing, China University of Petroleum, Beijing, 102200, China.
Anal Bioanal Chem. 2024 Sep;416(23):5155-5164. doi: 10.1007/s00216-024-05453-z. Epub 2024 Aug 1.
Osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH) is a common orthopedic disease characterized by disability and deformity. To better understand ONFH at molecular level and to explore the possibility of early diagnosis, instead of diagnosis based on macroscopic spatial characteristics, a matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry imaging (MALDI MSI) method was developed for ONFH disease for the first time. The most challenging step for ONFH MSI is to deal with human bone tissues which are much harder than the other biological samples studied by the reported MSI studies. In this work, the MSI sectioning method of hard bone tissues was established using tender acids and a series of test criteria. Small-molecule metabolites, such as lipids and amino acids, were detected in bone sections, realizing the in situ detection of spatial distribution of biometabolites. By comparing the distribution of metabolites from different regions of normal femoral head, ONFH bone tissue (ONBT), and adjacent ONFH bone tissue (ANBT), the whole process of femoral head from normal stage to necrosis was monitored and visualized at molecular level. Moreover, this developed MSI method was used for metabolomics study of ONFH. 72 differential metabolites were identified, suggesting that disturbances in energy metabolism and lipid metabolism affected the normal life activities of osteoblasts and osteoclasts. This study provides new perspectives for future pathological studies of ONFH.
股骨头坏死（ONFH）是一种常见的骨科疾病，其特征是残疾和畸形。为了更好地了解 ONFH 在分子水平上的情况，并探索早期诊断的可能性，而不是基于宏观空间特征进行诊断，首次针对 ONFH 疾病开发了基质辅助激光解吸/电离质谱成像（MALDI MSI）方法。ONFH MSI 最具挑战性的步骤是处理比其他报道的 MSI 研究中研究的其他生物样本更硬的人体骨骼组织。在这项工作中，使用温和酸和一系列测试标准建立了硬骨组织的 MSI 切片方法。在骨切片中检测到小分子代谢物，如脂质和氨基酸，实现了生物代谢物空间分布的原位检测。通过比较正常股骨头、ONFH 骨组织（ONBT）和相邻 ONFH 骨组织（ANBT）不同区域代谢物的分布，在分子水平上监测和可视化了从正常阶段到坏死的整个股骨头过程。此外，该开发的 MSI 方法用于 ONFH 的代谢组学研究。鉴定出 72 种差异代谢物，表明能量代谢和脂质代谢紊乱影响成骨细胞和破骨细胞的正常生命活动。这项研究为 ONFH 的未来病理研究提供了新的视角。
