1 research outputs found
Fiducial Markers for Combined 3-Dimensional Mass Spectrometric and Optical Tissue Imaging
Mass spectrometric imaging (MSI) has become widely used
in the
analysis of a variety of biological surfaces. Biological samples are
spatially, morphologically, and metabolically complex. Multimodal
molecular imaging is an emerging approach that is capable of dealing
with this complexity. In a multimodal approach, different imaging
modalities can provide precise information about the local molecular
composition of the surfaces. Images obtained by MSI can be coregistered
with images obtained by other molecular imaging techniques such as
microscopic images of fluorescent protein expression or histologically
stained sections. In order to properly coregister images from different
modalities, each tissue section must contain points of reference,
which are visible in all data sets. Here, we report a newly developed
coregistration technique using fiducial markers such as cresyl violet,
Ponceau S, and bromophenol blue that possess a combination of optical
and molecular properties that result in a clear mass spectrometric
signature. We describe these fiducial markers and demonstrate an application
that allows accurate coregistration and 3-dimensional reconstruction
of serial histological and fluorescent microscopic images with MSI
images of thin tissue sections from a breast tumor model