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Updated: Aug 6, 2026

Sample Preparation for Rapid Lipid Analysis in Drosophila Brain Using Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Mass Spectrometry Imaging
Published on: July 14, 2022
Towards spatial lipid profiling by using mass spectrometry: analytical challenges and applications
Yaowei Liu1, Yihua Ou1, Hemi Luan2,3
1Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510006, Guangdong, China.
Abstract:
Lipidomics, as a crucial branch of metabolomics, is dedicated to systematically analyzing the composition, structure, function, and dynamic changes of lipids in organisms, playing a pivotal role in elucidating disease mechanisms and discovering biomarkers. Conventional lipidomics methods based on liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) require tissue homogenization, which obscures the spatial distribution of lipids and precludes the analysis of their heterogeneity within complex tissue microenvironments. In recent years, the development of spatial omics technologies such as mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) and laser capture microdissection (LCM) has provided powerful tools for the in situ and visual investigation of lipid spatial distribution. This paper systematically reviews the main analytical strategies in lipidomics, focusing on the technical principles, advances, and recent applications of spatial multi-omics integration. It further discusses the challenges faced by spatial lipidomics in terms of quantitative accuracy, isomer identification, and spatial localization precision, and provides an outlook on future technological developments. Spatial lipidomics breaks through the bottleneck of losing spatial information in traditional methods, and opens up a new path for further exploration of disease mechanisms and the discovery of new biomarkers in the spatial dimension.
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