Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 29, 2026
Spatial Profiling of Protein and RNA Expression in Tissue: An Approach to Fine-Tune Virtual Microdissection
Published on: July 6, 2022
Spatial metabolomics strategy reveals heterogeneity of prostate cancer based on multi-platform imaging and laser
Siming Pu1, Peng Dou2, Tianrun Xu1
1State Key Laboratory of Medical Proteomics, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, 116023, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China; Liaoning Province Key Laboratory of Metabolomics, Dalian, 116023, China.
Abstract:
Prostate cancer (PCa) exhibits significant intra-tumor metabolic heterogeneity. In this study, we developed a multi-platform workflow combining pathological staining, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry imaging (MALDI-MSI), and laser capture microdissection-assistant gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LCM-GC-MS/MS) to investigate the metabolic spatial heterogeneity of a specific PCa tissue. Four suspicious glandular regions were initially identified by histology and immunofluorescence. MALDI-MSI revealed three distinct metabolic patterns for further analysis. It was found that only one glandular region showed PCa metabolic features, enabling precise differentiation from other regions of interest. The information from LCM-GC-MS/MS complemented that from MSI by confirming and quantifying fatty acid alterations. This workflow broadened the spatial metabolic coverage and enhanced intra-tumor metabolic heterogeneity analysis in PCa.
