1 research outputs found
Laser Activated Electron Tunneling Based Mass Spectrometric Imaging of Molecular Architectures of Mouse Brain Revealing Regional Specific Lipids
A comprehensive
description of overall brain architecture at the
molecular level is essential for understanding behavioral and cognitive
processes in health and diseases. Although fluorescent labeling of
target proteins has been successfully established to visualize a brain
connectome, the molecular basis for diverse neurophysiological phenomena
remains largely unknown. Here we report a brain-wide, molecular-level,
and microscale imaging of endogenous metabolites, in particular, lipids
of mouse brain by using laser activated electron tunneling (LAET)
and mass spectrometry. In this approach, atomic electron emission
along with finely tuned laser beam size provides high resolution that
can be down to the sub-micrometer level to display spatial distribution
of lipids in mouse brain slices. Electron-directed soft ionization
has been achieved through exothermal capture of tunneling photoelectrons
as well as unpaired electron-initiated chemical bond cleavages. Regionally
specific lipids including saturated, mono-unsaturated, and poly-unsaturated
fatty acids as well as other lipids, which may be implicated in neurological
signaling pathways, have been discovered by using this laser activated
electron tunneling based mass spectrometric imaging (LAET-MSI) technique