Mass Microprobe Aimed,Biological Samples

Abstract

Mass microprobe acquires mass-to-charge ratios of ions which are generated at an extremely small area on the sample surface. A raster achieved by moving the area of ionization over the sample surface allows to map a wide variety of compds. existing on the surface with a lateral resoln. of 1-100 mm. The technol. to visualize a local distribution of compds. in the sample is called imaging mass spectrometry and is recognized as an emerging field of mass spectrometry in recent years. Mass microprobe can now be applied to biol. samples, such as thin tissue sections, after significant progress of sample prepn. techniques. SIMS, LDI, and MALDI are ionization methods utilized in mass microprobe. Mol. images of light compds., such as lipids or metabolites, are suited to be recorded by SIMS or LDI, whereas peptides and proteins are targeted by MALDI. Although the sensitivity is the most important issue still to be overcome, mass microprobe is superior to optical o! bservations for providing chem. information on biol. samples, and is highly promising as a practical tool of biol. researches in very near future. [on SciFinder (R)]