Metabolic Lipids in Melanoma Enable Rapid Determination of Actionable BRAF-V600E Mutation with Picosecond Infrared Laser Mass Spectrometry in 10 s

Anal Chem. 2023 Sep 26;95(38):14430-14439. doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.3c02901. Epub 2023 Sep 11.

Abstract

Rapid molecular profiling of biological tissues with picosecond infrared laser mass spectrometry (PIRL-MS) has enabled the detection of clinically important histologic types and molecular subtypes of human cancers in as little as 10 s of data collection and analysis time. Utilizing an engineered cell line model of actionable BRAF-V600E mutation, we observed statistically significant differences in 10 s PIRL-MS molecular profiles between BRAF-V600E and BRAF-wt cells. Multivariate statistical analyses revealed a list of mass-to-charge (m/z) values most significantly responsible for the identification of BRAF-V600E mutation status in this engineered cell line that provided a highly controlled testbed for this observation. These metabolites predicted BRAF-V600E expression in human melanoma cell lines with greater than 98% accuracy. Through chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry analysis of cell line extracts, a 30-member "metabolite array" was characterized for determination of BRAF-V600E expression levels in subcutaneous melanoma xenografts with an average sensitivity and specificity of 95.6% with 10 s PIRL-MS analysis. This proof-of-principle work warrants a future large-scale study to identify a metabolite array for 10 s determination of actionable BRAF-V600E mutation in human tissue to guide patient care.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Cell Extracts
  • Humans
  • Lipids
  • Melanoma* / genetics
  • Mutation
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins B-raf* / genetics
  • Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Substances

  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins B-raf
  • Cell Extracts
  • Lipids
  • BRAF protein, human