Mass Spectrometry Imaging in Neuroscience

A special issue of Biomolecules (ISSN 2218-273X). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Medicine".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2025 | Viewed by 5048

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Gothenburg, SE-412 96 Gothenburg, Sweden
Interests: SIMS; NanoSIMS; super-resolution microscopy; correlative imaging; neurochemistry

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce that a Special Issue of Biomolecules, entitled “Mass Spectrometry Imaging in Neuroscience”, is now open for submission. I would like to invite you to submit some of your recent work or a topical review.

Mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) has become a valuable chemical imaging tool for biological research, offering high chemical specificity, high sensitivity, and multiplexed detection of multiple biomolecules that localize within cells and tissues at cellular and subcellular spatial resolution. MSI can be performed as either a targetting or non-targetting approach, the latter providing a significant analysis tool for exploring new samples without a priori knowledge. Different MSI techniques are suitable for a variety of applications with particular specifications and demands on spatial resolution, detected molecules, sensitivity, and sample status.

Over recent decades, MSI has been increasingly applied to study molecular organization and the functional relations of the underlying biological processes in neuronal cells, the brain, and neurological diseases and disorders. The spatial localization of biomolecules such as lipids, proteins, peptides and metabolites, etc. can now be mapped and related to their neurological functions. Cellular and subcellular molecular turnover, reflecting the synthesis, metablism and degradation in neurons and the brain at a certain stage of neuronal development, maturation, or pathology, is now being added to this knowledge base. Biomarkers distributed within a specific regions of cells and tissues provide valuable insights into cellular pathways of neurodegenerative diseases. These are just a several of the diverse topics that can be investigated using MSI.

We are pleased to invite you to contribute an original article or review focusing on any aspects of neurobiology using MSI.

This SI aims to provide the readership with a comprehensive insight into different MSI technologies along with their specific applications in neurobiology. This will help researchers to identify the potential and suitability of MSI techniques for further applications in the field. 

Dr. Nhu Thi Ngoc Phan
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • mass spectrometry imaging
  • secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS)
  • matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI)
  • desorption electrospray ionization (DESI)
  • laser ablation–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry imaging (LA-ICP-MSI)
  • multi-isotope imaging mass spectrometry (MIMS)
  • molecular and organelle turnover
  • brain
  • neurons
  • synapses
  • neuronal stem cells
  • membrane lipids
  • synaptic proteins
  • neural peptides
  • metabolites
  • diseases
  • disorders

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 10179 KB  
Article
Depth Correction of TOF-SIMS Depth Profiling Images Using the Total Ion Count Images
by Melanie A. Brunet, Brittney L. Gorman and Mary L. Kraft
Biomolecules 2025, 15(9), 1237; https://doi.org/10.3390/biom15091237 - 27 Aug 2025
Viewed by 1053
Abstract
Depth profiling time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) enables imaging the distributions of unlabeled metabolites within cells. When depth profiling TOF-SIMS is performed on intact cells, the 3D renderings produced by stacking and rending the individual depth profiling images are distorted [...] Read more.
Depth profiling time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) enables imaging the distributions of unlabeled metabolites within cells. When depth profiling TOF-SIMS is performed on intact cells, the 3D renderings produced by stacking and rending the individual depth profiling images are distorted along the z-axis, which complicates image interpretation. Here we describe an approach for correcting the z-axis distortion in 3D TOF-SIMS depth profiling images of cells. This approach uses the total ion images collected during TOF-SIMS depth profiling to create a 3D morphology model of the cell’s surface at the time when each depth profiling image was acquired. These morphology models are used to correct the z-position and height of each voxel in the component-specific 3D TOF-SIMS images. We have applied this approach to 3D TOF-SIMS depth profiling images that show endoplasmic reticulum-plasma membrane (ER-PM) junctions in cells that are a simplified model of ER-PM junctions in neuronal cells. The depth corrected 3D image more accurately depicted the structure of the ER-PM junctions than the uncorrected image. Projection of the depth corrected 3D image on the model of the cell’s morphology facilitated visualization of the ER-PM junctions relative to the peaks, ridges and valleys on the surface of the cell. Thus, accurate component-specific 3D images may now be produced for depth profiling TOF-SIMS datasets. This approach may facilitate efforts to identify the lipids and other metabolites that reside in ER-PM junctions in neuronal cells and elucidate their roles in neuronal function. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mass Spectrometry Imaging in Neuroscience)
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14 pages, 1979 KB  
Article
On-Tissue Chemical Derivatization for Mass Spectrometry Imaging of Fatty Acids with Enhanced Detection Sensitivity
by Malik Ebbini, Zicong Wang, Hua Zhang, Kelly H. Lu, Penghsuan Huang, Cameron J. Kaminsky, Luigi Puglielli and Lingjun Li
Biomolecules 2025, 15(3), 366; https://doi.org/10.3390/biom15030366 - 3 Mar 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2447
Abstract
The dysregulation of fatty acid (FA) metabolism is linked to various brain diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) allows for the visualization of FA distribution in brain tissues but is often limited by low detection sensitivity and high background interference. [...] Read more.
The dysregulation of fatty acid (FA) metabolism is linked to various brain diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) allows for the visualization of FA distribution in brain tissues but is often limited by low detection sensitivity and high background interference. In this work, we introduce a novel on-tissue chemical derivatization method for FAs using Girard’s Reagent T (GT) as a derivatization reagent combined with 2-chloro-1-methylpyridinium iodide (CMPI) as a coupling reagent and triethylamine (TEA) to provide a basic environment for the reaction. This method significantly enhances the detection sensitivity of FAs, achieving a 1000-fold improvement over traditional negative ion mode analysis. Our method enabled us to observe a notable depletion of oleic acid in the corpus callosum of AD mouse model brain tissue sections compared to wild-type control brain tissue sections. The reliability of our method was validated using LC-MS/MS, which confirmed the presence of eight distinct GT-labeled FAs across various tissue locations. This approach not only improves FA detection in brain tissues but also has the potential to provide a deeper understanding of FA dynamics associated with AD pathogenesis. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mass Spectrometry Imaging in Neuroscience)
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