Issue 24, 2021

LA-ICP-MS and MALDI-MS image registration for correlating nanomaterial biodistributions and their biochemical effects

Abstract

Laser ablation inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) imaging and matrix assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry imaging (MALDI-MSI) are complementary methods that measure distributions of elements and biomolecules in tissue sections. Quantitative correlations of the information provided by these two imaging modalities requires that the datasets be registered in the same coordinate system, allowing for pixel-by-pixel comparisons. We describe here a computational workflow written in Python that accomplishes this registration, even for adjacent tissue sections, with accuracies within ±50 μm. The value of this registration process is demonstrated by correlating images of tissue sections from mice injected with gold nanomaterial drug delivery systems. Quantitative correlations of the nanomaterial delivery vehicle, as detected by LA-ICP-MS imaging, with biochemical changes, as detected by MALDI-MSI, provide deeper insight into how nanomaterial delivery systems influence lipid biochemistry in tissues. Moreover, the registration process allows the more precise images associated with LA-ICP-MS imaging to be leveraged to achieve improved segmentation in MALDI-MS images, resulting in the identification of lipids that are most associated with different sub-organ regions in tissues.

Graphical abstract: LA-ICP-MS and MALDI-MS image registration for correlating nanomaterial biodistributions and their biochemical effects

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
30 Sep 2021
Accepted
17 Nov 2021
First published
17 Nov 2021

Analyst, 2021,146, 7720-7729

Author version available

LA-ICP-MS and MALDI-MS image registration for correlating nanomaterial biodistributions and their biochemical effects

L. J. Castellanos-Garcia, K. N. Sikora, J. Doungchawee and R. W. Vachet, Analyst, 2021, 146, 7720 DOI: 10.1039/D1AN01783G

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