Microbial single-cell mass spectrometry: status, challenges, and prospects

Martin Schirmer; Christian Dusny

doi:10.1016/j.copbio.2023.102977

Microbial single-cell mass spectrometry: status, challenges, and prospects

Curr Opin Biotechnol. 2023 Oct:83:102977. doi: 10.1016/j.copbio.2023.102977. Epub 2023 Jul 27.

Authors

Martin Schirmer¹, Christian Dusny²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Solar Materials - Microscale Analysis and Engineering, Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ Leipzig, Leizpig, Germany.
² Department of Solar Materials - Microscale Analysis and Engineering, Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ Leipzig, Leizpig, Germany. Electronic address: christian.dusny@ufz.de.

PMID: 37515936
DOI: 10.1016/j.copbio.2023.102977

Abstract

Single-cell analysis uncovers phenotypic differences between cells in a population and dissects their individual physiological states and differences on all omics levels from genome to phenome. Spectrometric observation allows label-free analysis of the metabolome and proteome of individual cells, but is still mainly limited to the analysis of mammalian single cells. Recent progress in mass spectrometry approaches now enables the analysis of microbial single cells - mainly by miniaturizing cell handling, incubation, and improving chip-coupling concepts for analyte ionization by interfacing microfluidic chips and mass spectrometers. This review aims at distilling the enabling principles behind microbial single-cell mass spectrometry and puts them into perspective for the future of the field.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Mammals
Mass Spectrometry / methods
Metabolome*
Microfluidics*
Single-Cell Analysis / methods