Development of a highly efficient solubilization method for mass spectrometric analysis of phospholipids in living single cells

In this study, live single-cell mass spectrometry (MS) was developed for analyzing phospholipids at the single-cell level. This method facilitates rapid molecular analysis of cells under microscopic observation. For nanoelectrospray ionization, phospholipids were extracted from single cells isolated in a glass capillary through a high-efficiency process. Cell-derived phosphatidylcholines were detected with high sensitivity when trehalose C14 was added as a solubilizing reagent. Trehalose C14 can solubilize cells at low concentrations owing to its low critical micelle concentration, and exerts minimal matrix effects (such as suppressing ionization and causing peak overlap) in the MS analysis of cellular molecules. Analyses of phospholipids in Raji and HEV0070 cells using the developed method revealed specific peaks of phosphatidylcholine and sphingomyelin in the respective cells. The developed technique not only affords phospholipid profiles at the single-cell level, but also holds promise for identifying biomarkers associated with various diseases, particularly cancer.PMID:38546806 | DOI:10.1007/s44211-024-00542-6
Source: Analytical Sciences : the international journal of the Japan Society for Analytical Chemistry - Category: Chemistry Authors: Source Type: research