Bio-imaging mass spectrometry techniques reveal molecular details about compl... (moving into new avenues of research incl...)

Bio-imaging mass spectrometry techniques reveal molecular details about complex systems

Date:9/25/2008

moving into new avenues of research including looking at algae samples, as well as ovarian cancer tissue samples provided by the Ovarian Cancer Institute, which is housed at Georgia Tech and headed by School of Biology chair John McDonald," noted Fernandez.

In ovarian cancer research, little is known about how biomarkers and low-mass signaling molecules increase or decrease in abundance with treatment. Fernandez has teamed with Thomas Orlando, chair of the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, to use DESI and laser desorption single photon ionization mass spectrometry (LD/SPI-MS) to investigate this issue. Because the two techniques overlap in mass ranges, using both provides a more complete investigation of the biomarker profiles, says Orlando.

Because it does not use a matrix, LD/SPI-MS can detect low-mass molecules such as sugars, amino acids, small peptides and cytotoxic compounds formed as result of cancer treatment. It could achieve higher spatial resolution and sensitivity than typical commercial mass spectrometers that rely on the laser desorption of ions, according to Orlando.

"We hope LD/SPI-MS will lead to a better understanding of the molecular basis of ovarian cancer at its various stages and how treatment affects regulation of low-mass biomarkers in ovarian cancer cells," said Orlando.

Mass spectrometry experiments produce incredible volumes of data, each composed of thousands of spectra and thousands of peaks, which makes finding molecules of interest very difficult.

"We've focused on researching computational methods that can clean up, visualize and look for interesting patterns in thousands of mass spectrometry tissue images that you wouldn't necessarily be able to find or have time to find with the naked eye," explained May Dongmei Wang, an assistant professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering and a Georgia Cancer Coalition Distinguished Cancer Scholar.

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Contact: Abby Vogel
avogel@gatech.edu
404-385-3364
Georgia Institute of Technology Research News
Source:Eurekalert

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