3D MALDI Mass Spectrometry Imaging of a Single Cell: Spatial Mapping of Lipids in the Embryonic Development of Zebrafish

Sci Rep. 2017 Nov 2;7(1):14946. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-14949-x.

Abstract

The zebrafish (Danio rerio) has been widely used as a model vertebrate system to study lipid metabolism, the roles of lipids in diseases, and lipid dynamics in embryonic development. Here, we applied high-spatial resolution matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI)-mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) to map and visualize the three-dimensional spatial distribution of phospholipid classes, phosphatidylcholine (PC), phosphatidylethanolamines (PE), and phosphatidylinositol (PI), in newly fertilized individual zebrafish embryos. This is the first time MALDI-MSI has been applied for three dimensional chemical imaging of a single cell. PC molecular species are present inside the yolk in addition to the blastodisc, while PE and PI species are mostly absent in the yolk. Two-dimensional MSI was also studied for embryos at different cell stages (1-, 2-, 4-, 8-, and 16-cell stage) to investigate the localization changes of some lipids at various cell developmental stages. Four different normalization approaches were compared to find reliable relative quantification in 2D- and 3D- MALDI MSI data sets.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Embryo, Nonmammalian / chemistry*
  • Embryo, Nonmammalian / cytology
  • Imaging, Three-Dimensional / methods
  • Phospholipids / analysis*
  • Single-Cell Analysis / methods*
  • Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization / methods*
  • Zebrafish / embryology*

Substances

  • Phospholipids