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Published on: June 18, 2014
Evaluating limits of detection for single-cell elemental bioimaging by LA-ICP-TOFMS
Elisabeth Foels1, Gabriel Braun1, Claude Molitor2
1University of Vienna, Faculty of Chemistry, Institute of Analytical Chemistry, Waehringer Strasse 38, 1090, Vienna, Austria; University of Vienna, Vienna Doctoral School in Chemistry (DoSChem), Waehringer Strasse 42, 1090, Vienna, Austria.
This study introduces a new method for quantifying metal levels in single cells using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). The approach improves the accuracy of elemental bioimaging by developing novel detection limit strategies for precise single-cell analysis.
Area of Science:
- Elemental bioimaging
- Mass spectrometry
- Cellular metal analysis
Background:
- Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) is crucial for studying metal exposure and biological roles.
- Current quantification methods rely on non-certified standards, limiting accuracy.
- Existing metrics for pixel-based data are insufficient for single-cell quantification.
Purpose of the Study:
- To propose a novel limit of detection (LOD) strategy for single-cell LA-ICP-TOFMS imaging.
- To enhance the accuracy of quantitative elemental bioimaging at the single-cell level.
- To address limitations in current quality assurance for elemental maps.
Main Methods:
- Utilized gelatine micro-droplet calibrations and bootstrapped signal distributions from gelatine blanks.
- Employed bootstrapping to generate representative distributions from integrated signals over pixel subsets.
- Estimated isotope- and cell size-specific LODs, accounting for varying cell sizes via pixel integration.
Main Results:
- Developed a novel LOD strategy tailored for single-cell LA-ICP-TOFMS imaging.
- Demonstrated a method to estimate accurate, cell size-specific LODs.
- Provided a foundation for improved quantitative analysis in elemental bioimaging.
Conclusions:
- The proposed LOD strategy enhances the reliability of single-cell elemental quantification.
- This method offers a significant improvement over existing approaches for elemental bioimaging.
- The concept is adaptable for various quantitative imaging techniques and regions of interest.
