Customized Surface Design to Increase Throughput of Ambient Ionization Mass Spectrometry Lipidomics

Increased access to cheap and rapid mass spectrometry testing of biofluids is desirable for the analysis of disorders and diseases that may be linked to alterations in metabolite or lipid levels. The objective of this study is to establish an easily customized high-throughput workflow for the analysis of biological samples using desorption electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (DESI-MS). The guiding principles of this workflow are the use of low-cost, open-source, and readily accessible materials with high-throughput and reproducibility. The design consists of 3 steps: (1) PARAFILM surface customization of size, shape, and depth of features on PARAFILM via 3D printed molds; (2) sample spotting via high-throughput robotics using the relatively inexpensive and open-source Opentrons platform to reduce variability and increase reliability of sample spotting; and (3) an open-source point-and-click graphical user interface (MSI.EAGLE) for data analysis via the R statistical language building on the Cardinal package. Here we describe this workflow and test optimal surface ionization characteristics by comparison of serum extracts spotted on PARAFILM and on PTFE (porous and nonporous). Untargeted analysis across three surfaces suggests that they are all suitable for ionization of a wide range of metabolites and lipids, with 3983 m/z features detected. Differential analysis of polar vs nonpolar serum extracts suggests that ∼80% of ions are desorbed preferentially from different surfaces. PARAFILM is less impacted by the interference of background ions derived from the surface. The developed system allows for a wide range of researchers to access custom surface design workflows and high-throughput analyses in a highly cost-effective manner.