Chapter 15: MALDI-Mass spectrometry imaging: the metabolomics visualization
by Emanuela Salvati, Eduardo Sommella, Pietro Campiglia
Abstract
MALDI mass spectrometry imaging (MALDI-MSI) is a label free method that allows the visualization of different biomolecules directly on the tissues. With respect to conventional hyphenated approaches, that requires tissue homogenization, MALDI-MSI retain the spatial distribution of the tissue and thus it is capable to provide the exact localization of any given molecule. This chapter will briefly outline the analytical workflow of MALDI-MSI, comprising of its principles, sample preparation strategies, and application for polar metabolites and lipids analysis, showing its potential employment in metabolomics and lipidomics, in biomedical and pharmaceutical field.
Emanuela Salvati
Emanuela Salviati obtained her PhD in Drug Discovery & Development at the University of Salerno in 2016, working on application of HRMS methods in drug discovery and natural compounds characterization. Since 2015 she has been involved in the development and application of LC-MS based methods in drug discovery, and currently her interest is focused on optimization of MALDI-Imaging for in situ pharmacometabolomics and neuropeptidomics with MALDI-TOF and MALDI-FT-ICR platforms.
Eduardo Sommella
Eduardo Maria Sommella, received his PhD in 2013, working on the development and application of LC × LC-HRMS platforms. Since 2014 he has been involved in the development and application of hyphenated methods for pharmacokinetics analysis and metabolomics in the drug discovery field, in particular UHPLC-HRMS, LC × LC-HRMS and DI-FT-ICR platforms. He teaches Advanced methodologies in Medicinal Chemistry at the Department of Pharmacy of University of Salerno.
Pietro Campiglia
Pietro Campiglia received his PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Naples “Federico II“ in 2003. He is currently Full Professor in Medicinal Chemistry, head of the Department of Pharmacy and Vice Rector for Scientific Research of the University of Salerno. His research interest span from drug discovery and development, by using solid phase and in solution synthesis, flow-chemistry approaches and employment of mass spectrometry based platform in the omic sciences, drug discovery and nutraceutics. He is author of more than 200 papers with a H index of 38.