title: Mass spectrometry for cellular and tissue analyses in a very small region.
abstract: The analysis of biological specimens is now expected to shift from multi-cell analysis to single cells to know about the molecular and cellular behavior precisely. Mass spectrometric approaches to clarify molecular profiles in a cell or very small region have been developed. Such techniques include matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization imaging mass spectrometry (MALDI-IMS), secondary-ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), single-cell MALDI and live single-cell mass spectrometry. In this paper, these methods are reviewed, and their characteristics are discussed concerning how these methods achieve our aim.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Hiroshima University, 1-2-3 Kasumi, Minami, Hiroshima 734-8553, Japan.
authors.forename: Naohiro
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tsuyama
authors.forename: Hajime
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mizuno
authors.forename: Tsutomu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Masujima
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002470:Cell Survival; D002477:Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D057054:Molecular Imaging; D036103:Nanotechnology; D009928:Organ Specificity; D059010:Single-Cell Analysis