Mass spectral tissue analysis

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12535492-B2
Application number	US-202318394339-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 22, 2023
Priority date	May 18, 2011
Publication date	Jan 27, 2026
Grant date	Jan 27, 2026

Abstract

The invention generally relates to mass spectral analysis. In certain embodiments, methods of the invention involve analyzing a lipid containing sample using a mass spectrometry technique, in which the technique utilizes a liquid phase that does not destroy native tissue morphology during analysis.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method for assessing a tissue sample for presence of cancerous cells that are associated with brain, kidney, or prostate, the method comprising:
producing mass spectral data using a desorption electrospray ionization (DESI) technique that comprises directing a liquid phase that does not destroy native tissue morphology from a DESI probe onto the tissue sample to thereby desorb one or more compounds from the sample that are analyzed by a mass spectrometer; receiving the mass spectral data of a tissue sample; producing a mass spectral image of the tissue sample based on the mass spectral data; receiving histochemical data of the tissue sample; producing an optical image of the tissue sample from the histochemical data; overlaying the mass spectral image of the tissue sample with the optical image of the tissue sample to produce an overlaid image; and assessing the overlaid image for presence of cancerous cells that are associated with at least one type of cancer selected from the group consisting of brain, kidney, and prostate.

2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein assessing comprises determining a distribution of the one or more compounds in the tissue sample based on an analysis of the overlaid image.

3 . The method according to claim 2 , further comprising grading the cancerous cells based on the distribution of the one or more compounds in the tissue sample.

4 . The method according to claim 3 , wherein the cancerous cells are indicative of brain cancer.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the liquid phase is a solvent comprising dimethylformamide (DMF), acetonitrile (ACN), or tetrahydrofuran (THF).

6 . The method according to claim 5 , wherein the liquid phase comprises at least one other component.

7 . The method according to claim 6 , wherein the at least one other component is selected from the group consisting of ethanol (EtOH), water (H 2 O), acetonitrile (ACN), and a combination thereof.

8 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the liquid phase is selected from the group consisting of: acetonitrile (ACN):ethanol (EtOH); methanol (MeOH):chloroform (CHCl 3 ); and acetonitrile (ACN):chloroform (CHCl 3 ).

9 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the histochemistry data is produced by H&E staining.

10 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more compounds comprises one or more lipids.

11 . A method for assessing a tissue sample for presence of cancerous cells that are associated with brain, kidney, or prostate, the method comprising:
producing mass spectral data of a tissue sample comprising a cancerous section that is associated with brain, kidney, or prostate using a desorption electrospray ionization (DESI) technique that comprises directing a liquid phase that does not destroy native tissue morphology from a DESI probe onto the tissue sample to thereby desorb one or more compounds from the sample that are analyzed by a mass spectrometer; receiving the mass spectral data of the tissue sample comprising the cancerous section that is associated with brain, kidney, or prostate; producing a mass spectral image of the tissue sample comprising the cancerous section based on the mass spectral data; receiving histochemical data of the tissue sample comprising the cancerous section; producing an optical image of the tissue sample comprising the cancerous section from the histochemical data; overlaying the mass spectral image of the tissue sample comprising the cancerous section with the optical image of the tissue sample comprising the cancerous section to produce an overlaid image; identifying the cancerous section that is associated with brain, kidney, or prostate within the overlaid image; and assessing the overlaid image to determine a grade of the cancerous section that is associated with brain, kidney, or prostate.

12 . The method according to claim 11 , wherein the mass spectral data is produced using a desorption electrospray ionization (DESI) technique operated in imaging mode.

13 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the liquid phase is a solvent comprising dimethylformamide (DMF), acetonitrile (ACN), or tetrahydrofuran (THF).

14 . The method according to claim 13 , wherein the liquid phase comprises at least one other component.

15 . The method according to claim 14 , wherein the at least one other component is selected from the group consisting of ethanol (EtOH), water (H 2 O), acetonitrile (ACN), and a combination thereof.

16 . The method according to claim 11 , wherein the liquid phase is selected from the group consisting of: acetonitrile (ACN):ethanol (EtOH); methanol (MeOH):chloroform (CHCl 3 ); and acetonitrile (ACN):chloroform (CHCl 3 ).

17 . The method according to claim 11 , wherein the histochemistry data is produced by H&E staining.

18 . The method according to claim 11 , wherein the one or more compounds comprises one or more lipids.

Assignees

• Purdue Research Foundation

Inventors

• Cooks Robert Graham
• Eberlin Livia Schiavinato
• Ferreira Christina Ramires
• Dill Allison Lisa
• Ifa Demian R

Classifications

• H01J49/142

  using a solid target which is not previously vapourised · CPC title

• H01J49/0004

  Imaging particle spectrometry · CPC title

• H01J49/165

  Electrospray ionisation · CPC title

• H01J49/0036

  Step by step routines describing the handling of the data generated during a measurement · CPC title

• G01N33/92 Primary

  involving lipids, e.g. cholesterol {, lipoproteins, or their receptors (steroid hormones G01N33/743)} · CPC title