Yang Manxi, Tang Xindi, Iqfath Mushfeqa, Hernly Emerson, Unsihuay Daisy, Manchanda Palak, Sharma Kaushik, Qu Zihan, Hu Hang, Beveridge Connor, Chopra Gaurav, Laskin Julia
Department of Chemistry, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, United States.
ACS Chem Neurosci. 2025 Aug 20;16(16):3127-3137. doi: 10.1021/acschemneuro.5c00144. Epub 2025 Jul 31.
Alzheimer's disease (AD), characterized by β-amyloid plaques, is increasingly recognized by lipid dysregulation as a key factor in its pathology. Mass spectrometry imaging (MSI), a powerful tool for mapping the spatial distribution of biomolecules in tissue sections, is ideally suited for investigating region-specific molecular alterations in diseased animal tissues. Recent MSI advancements have revealed plaque-associated molecular features in the AD brain, highlighting the role of metabolic dysfunction in disease progression. In this study, we developed a novel multimodal MSI approach using nanospray desorption electrospray ionization (nano-DESI) for dual polarity mode lipid and peptide imaging in the brain tissues of 5-7-month-old transgenic familial AD mice (5xFAD), followed by fluorescence imaging of β-amyloid plaques on the same tissue section. Our results revealed the accumulation of several peptides and phospholipids, including phosphatidylethanolamines (PE), phosphatidylinositols (PI), phosphatidylglycerols (PG), and phosphatidylcholines (PC) in and/or surrounding β-amyloid plaques in the hippocampus, isocortex, and thalamus regions of the AD brain. Furthermore, we observed that several fatty acids (FAs) were enhanced in the plaque-enriched subiculum region of the hippocampus. Our results demonstrate the power of the multimodal nano-DESI MSI approach for comprehensive mapping of molecular pathology with high spatial resolution, providing unique insights into disease metabolism and potential biomarkers.
阿尔茨海默病(AD)以β-淀粉样蛋白斑块为特征,脂质失调作为其病理过程中的关键因素越来越受到认可。质谱成像(MSI)是一种用于绘制组织切片中生物分子空间分布的强大工具,非常适合研究患病动物组织中区域特异性分子变化。最近的MSI进展揭示了AD大脑中与斑块相关的分子特征,突出了代谢功能障碍在疾病进展中的作用。在本研究中,我们开发了一种新颖的多模态MSI方法,使用纳米喷雾解吸电喷雾电离(nano-DESI)对5至7月龄转基因家族性AD小鼠(5xFAD)脑组织中的双极性模式脂质和肽进行成像,随后对同一组织切片上的β-淀粉样蛋白斑块进行荧光成像。我们的结果显示,在AD大脑的海马体、同型皮质和丘脑区域,几种肽和磷脂,包括磷脂酰乙醇胺(PE)、磷脂酰肌醇(PI)、磷脂酰甘油(PG)和磷脂酰胆碱(PC)在β-淀粉样蛋白斑块内和/或周围积累。此外,我们观察到海马体富含斑块的下托区域中几种脂肪酸(FAs)有所增加。我们的结果证明了多模态nano-DESI MSI方法在高空间分辨率下全面绘制分子病理学图谱的能力,为疾病代谢和潜在生物标志物提供了独特的见解。