Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 15, 2026

Imaging of Biological Tissues by Desorption Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry
Published on: July 12, 2013
Subcellular mass spectrometry imaging of lipids and nucleotides using transmission geometry ambient laser desorption
Reuben S E Young1, Ann-Katrin Piper1, Luke McAlary1
1Molecular Horizons and School of Science, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia.
Abstract:
Demand for mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) technologies offering subcellular resolution for tissues and cell imaging is rapidly increasing. To accomplish this, efficient analyte ionisation is essential, given the small amounts of sample material in each pixel. Herein, we describe an atmospheric pressure transmission-geometry matrix-assisted laser desorption source equipped with plasma ionisation. By utilising a pre-staining method for sample preparation, lipid signal intensities were enhanced by an order of magnitude compared to conventional matrix-only methods, while serendipitously enabling imaging of numerous nucleotides. The system enables detection of up to 200 lipids and nucleotides in tissues at 1 µm-pixel size while informative MSI data is still obtained down to 250 nm pixel size. The use of sub-micron pixels is shown to discern subcellular features through combinations with fluorescence microscopy. This method provides a powerful tool for cellular and sub-cellular imaging of small molecules from tissues and cells for spatial biology applications.
More Related Videos
08:48Fluorescence-Guided Matrix-assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization with Laser-Induced Postionization Mass Spectrometry of Individual Rat Neural Cells
Published on: May 23, 2025
10:47Whole-body Mass Spectrometry Imaging by Infrared Matrix-assisted Laser Desorption Electrospray Ionization IR-MALDESI
Published on: March 24, 2016
Related Concept Videos
MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry
Tandem Mass Spectrometry
Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization (MALDI)
Mass Spectrum: Interpretation
Mass Spectrometry: Complex Analysis
GC–MS is a powerful hyphenated method commonly used in forensics and environmental...
Inductively Coupled Plasma–Mass Spectrometry (ICP–MS): Overview