title: Deuterated matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization matrix uncovers masked mass spectrometry imaging signals of small molecules.
abstract: D(4)-α-Cyano-4-hydroxycinnamic acid (D(4)-CHCA) has been synthesized for use as a matrix for matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) and MALDI-MS imaging (MSI) of small molecule drugs and endogenous compounds. MALDI-MS analysis of small molecules has historically been hindered by interference from matrix ion clusters and fragment peaks that mask signals of low molecular weight compounds of interest. By using D(4)-CHCA, the cluster and fragment peaks of CHCA, the most common matrix for analysis of small molecules, are shifted by + 4, + 8 and + 12 Da, which expose signals across areas of the previously concealed low mass range. Here, obscured MALDI-MS signals of a synthetic small molecule pharmaceutical, a naturally occurring isoquinoline alkaloid, and endogenous compounds including the neurotransmitter acetylcholine have been unmasked and imaged directly from biological tissue sections.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Biosciences, Medical Mass Spectrometry, Uppsala University, Box 591 BMC, SE-751 24 Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Mohammadreza
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shariatgorji
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nilsson
authors.forename: Richard J A
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Goodwin
authors.forename: Per
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Svenningsson
authors.forename: Nicoletta
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Schintu
authors.forename: Zoltan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Banka
authors.forename: Laszlo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kladni
authors.forename: Tibor
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hasko
authors.forename: Andras
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Szabo
authors.forename: Per E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Andren
mesh_terms: D000109:Acetylcholine / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D001599:Berberine / Q000378:metabolism; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D003373:Coumaric Acids / Q000737:chemistry*; D008168:Lung / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D057054:Molecular Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008970:Molecular Weight; D051381:Rats; D019032:Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D003373:Coumaric Acids; D001599:Berberine; C007175:alpha-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamate; D000109:Acetylcholine