AVS 61st International Symposium & Exhibition
    Applied Surface Science Tuesday Sessions
       Session AS+BI+VT-TuM

Invited Paper AS+BI+VT-TuM1
Laser Ablation Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry with Ion Mobility Separation for Cell and Tissue Analysis

Tuesday, November 11, 2014, 8:00 am, Room 316

Session: Ambient Ionization Mass Spectrometry
Presenter: Akos Vertes, George Washington University
Authors: A. Vertes, George Washington University
B. Shrestha, George Washington University
H. Li, George Washington University
S.A. Stopka, George Washington University
L. Zhang, George Washington University
Correspondent: Click to Email
Laser ablation electrospray ionization (LAESI) is a novel ion source that enables the direct analysis of biological samples, including tissues and individual cells. In this ionization method, mid-IR laser ablation is followed by electrospray ionization of the ablated material in the expanding plume. Molecular coverage in complex biological samples is limited, in part, by the large number of components and the absence of a separation step prior to ionization. In addition, isobars, such as structural isomers and conformers, are not distinguished by mass analysis alone. To overcome these limitations, LAESI is combined with ion mobility separation (IMS) before mass spectrometry (MS). In this contribution, we describe the first results with such a LAESI-IMS-MS system for metabolite, lipid and protein analysis, including its application to plant and animal tissues, MS imaging and single cell analysis. The studied systems, among others, comprise mouse brain sections, Arabidopsis thaliana leaves and green algae (Chlamydomonas reinhardtii) cell pellets. The introduction of IMS resulted in enhanced molecular coverage, reduced interferences, distinction of structural isomers, observation of larger multiply charged ions typically suppressed by singly charged abundant metabolites and phospholipids, and in extended dynamic range.