title: Mass spectrometry coupled to imaging techniques: the better the view the greater the challenge.
abstract: These are definitively exciting times for membrane lipid researchers. Once considered just as the cell membrane building blocks, the important role these lipids play is steadily being acknowledged. The improvement occurred in mass spectrometry techniques (MS) allows the establishment of the precise lipid composition of biological extracts. However, to fully understand the biological function of each individual lipid species, we need to know its spatial distribution and dynamics. In the past 10 years, the field has experienced a profound revolution thanks to the development of MS-based techniques allowing lipid imaging (MSI). Images reveal and verify what many lipid researchers had already shown by different means, but none as convincing as an image: each cell type presents a specific lipid composition, which is highly sensitive to its physiological and pathological state. While these techniques will help to place membrane lipids in the position they deserve, they also open the black box containing all the unknown regulatory mechanisms accounting for such tailored lipid composition. Thus, these results urges to different disciplines to redefine their paradigm of study by including the complexity revealed by the MSI techniques.
authors: Lipids in Human Pathology, Research Unit, Hospital Universitari Son Espases, Institut d'Investigació Sanitària de Palma (IdISPa) Palma, Spain.
authors: Gwendolyn
authors: G
authors: Barceló-Coblijn
authors: Departamento de Química-Física, Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad del País Vasco (UPV/EHU) Leioa, Spain.
authors: José A
authors: JA
authors: Fernández
keywords: DESI imaging; Lipid imaging; MALDI Imaging; SIMS; mass spectrometry (MS)
references: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2008 Nov 25;105(47):18120-5
references: 18697929
references: Chem Rev. 2013 Apr 10;113(4):2309-42
references: 23394164
references: J Am Soc Mass Spectrom. 2010 Dec;21(12):2095-104
references: 20947369
references: J Am Soc Mass Spectrom. 2011 Jun;22(6):1014-21
references: 21953042
references: J Am Soc Mass Spectrom. 2007 Sep;18(9):1646-52
references: 17659880
references: Nat Med. 2001 Apr;7(4):493-6
references: 11283679
references: J Am Soc Mass Spectrom. 2007 Mar;18(3):406-12
references: 17118671
references: Anal Chim Acta. 2009 Apr 20;639(1-2):57-61
references: 19345758
references: J Lipid Res. 1960 Oct;1:361-90
references: 13745046
references: Anal Chem. 2012 Jan 17;84(2):1117-25
references: 22141424
references: Anal Bioanal Chem. 2011 Jul;401(1):89-101
references: 21437774
references: J Lipid Res. 2010 Oct;51(10):3034-45
references: 20616379
references: J Am Soc Mass Spectrom. 2014 Nov;25(11):1897-907
references: 25183225
references: Anal Bioanal Chem. 2011 Jun;400(7):1933-43
references: 21461619
references: Anal Chem. 1999 Aug 15;71(16):3318-24
references: 10464472
references: Anal Chem. 2013 Mar 5;85(5):2860-6
references: 23347294
references: J Mass Spectrom. 2006 Jun;41(6):705-16
references: 16718638
references: Lipids. 1970 Nov;5(11):861-8
references: 5484200
references: Histochem Cell Biol. 2010 Nov;134(5):423-43
references: 20981554
references: J Mass Spectrom. 2007 Aug;42(8):1093-8
references: 17621389
references: J Am Soc Mass Spectrom. 2008 Apr;19(4):531-43
references: 18258448
references: J Am Soc Mass Spectrom. 2007 Jan;18(1):17-26
references: 17005416
references: Anal Chem. 2014 Aug 5;86(15):7798-805
references: 25007005
references: J Lipid Res. 1982 May;23(4):660-3
references: 7097131
references: Anal Chem. 2011 Jun 15;83(12):4508-38
references: 21495690
references: J Antibiot (Tokyo). 1971 Dec;24(12):846-9
references: 5140531
references: PLoS One. 2011 Apr 29;6(4):e19441
references: 21559377
references: J Am Soc Mass Spectrom. 2005 Oct;16(10):1654-9
references: 16095912
references: Science. 2004 Oct 15;306(5695):471-3
references: 15486296
references: Anal Chem. 2009 Sep 15;81(18):7618-24
references: 19746995
references: Methods Enzymol. 1975;35:315-25
references: 164602
references: PLoS One. 2008 Sep 18;3(9):e3232
references: 18800170
references: J Lipid Res. 2009 Sep;50(9):1776-88
references: 19417221
references: J Lipid Res. 2011 Aug;52(8):1551-60
references: 21508254
references: J Mass Spectrom. 2005 Oct;40(10):1261-75
references: 16237663
references: J Clin Invest. 1996 Aug 1;98(3):800-14
references: 8698873
references: Biochimie. 2014 Dec;107 Pt A:73-7
references: 25312848
references: Anal Chem. 2008 Dec 1;80(23):9105-14
references: 18959430
references: J Am Soc Mass Spectrom. 2011 Feb;22(2):329-38
references: 21472592
references: Annu Rev Biophys. 2009;38:53-74
references: 19086820
references: Nat Methods. 2007 Oct;4(10):828-33
references: 17901873
references: Mass Spectrom Rev. 2007 Jul-Aug;26(4):606-43
references: 17471576
references: Science. 2006 Mar 17;311(5767):1566-70
references: 16543450
references: Analyst. 2010 Apr;135(4):751-8
references: 20349540
references: J Lipid Res. 2010 Sep;51(9):2753-60
references: 20547889
references: Biochim Biophys Acta. 2011 Nov;1811(11):976-90
references: 21664291
references: Biochim Biophys Acta. 2008 Mar;1780(3):612-8
references: 17980968
references: Glycobiology. 2001 Feb;11(2):105-12
references: 11287397
references: Neuroscience. 2010 Jun 16;168(1):219-25
references: 20362643
references: Biochim Biophys Acta. 2014 Jan;1844(1 Pt A):117-37
references: 23467008
references: Analyst. 2010 Jan;135(1):28-32
references: 20024177
references: Biochem Soc Trans. 1999 Aug;27(4):648-52
references: 10917659
references: J Mass Spectrom. 2011 Feb;46(2):209-22
references: 21322093
references: Annu Rev Anal Chem (Palo Alto Calif). 2010;3:433-65
references: 20636050
references: J Biochem. 1991 Mar;109(3):436-9
references: 1880130
references: PLoS One. 2010 Dec 28;5(12):e15587
references: 21203393
references: Mol Biol Cell. 2014 Jun 15;25(12):1819-23
references: 24925915
references: Cancer Sci. 2013 Oct;104(10):1295-302
references: 23815430
references: J Chromatogr A. 2010 Jun 18;1217(25):3946-54
references: 20223463
references: Drug Discov Today. 2005 Jun 15;10(12):823-37
references: 15970265
references: J Lipid Res. 2009 Apr;50 Suppl:S317-22
references: 19050313
references: Analyst. 2011 Jun 7;136(11):2199-217
references: 21461433
references: Anal Chem. 1988 Oct 15;60(20):2299-301
references: 3239801
references: Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2009;48(44):8240-2
references: 19746375
references: J Lipid Res. 2014 Mar;55(3):504-15
references: 24367044
references: PLoS One. 2013 Apr 16;8(4):e61204
references: 23613812
references: Anal Chem. 2012 Feb 21;84(4):2048-54
references: 22243482
references: J Am Soc Mass Spectrom. 2005 Feb;16(2):133-8
references: 15694763
references: Glycobiology. 2001 Jun;11(6):451-7
references: 11445550
references: Anal Chem. 2009 Oct 15;81(20):8488-95
references: 19751051
references: Anal Chem. 2013 Mar 5;85(5):2977-82
references: 23384246
references: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2013 Jan 29;110(5):1611-6
references: 23300285
references: Anal Chem. 2012 Jul 17;84(14):6079-87
references: 22720760
references: Science. 1989 Oct 6;246(4926):64-71
references: 2675315
references: Anal Chem. 2013 Jan 15;85(2):1090-6
references: 23214468
references: Anal Chem. 2012 Feb 21;84(4):1817-23
references: 22283706
references: Anal Chem. 2009 Nov 1;81(21):8758-64
references: 19810710
references: Anal Methods. 2014 Jul 21;6(14):5001-5007
references: 24999374
references: Anal Bioanal Chem. 2012 Jun;403(8):2315-25
references: 22447214
references: Prog Lipid Res. 2010 Oct;49(4):450-75
references: 20643161