Identifying lipids and other small molecules from imaging mass spectrometry experiments using tandem mass spectrometry and exact mass

摘要

Critical to imaging mass spectrometry studies is identifying compounds detected from a tissue section. Besides the m/z value of a particular ion, identification of ion signals is accomplished by tandem mass spectrometry using characteristic structure fragments. Exact mass is an additional tool that can be utilized for identification of unknown signals. Instrumentation for exact mass measurements and tandem MS is not available in one complete system for imaging MS studies; therefore, the evaluation of tissue extracts with LC/MS and exact mass is employed for these studies. The evaluation of post-acquisition software for exact mass measurements on a triple quadrupole is compared to data acquired on a high mass accuracy TOF system.