Pittcon 2012 - Imaging Mass Spectrometry - Abstract 1
TITLE: Molecular Signaling Studied with High Resolution Imaging MS
SPEAKER: Ron MA Heeren - FOM-AMOLF
ABSTRACT OVERVIEW: Key questions in analytical biology and biochemistry evolve around the determination of three basic molecular properties: molecular composition, molecular structure and molecular localization. The complex interplay between molecules in living systems results in a continuous alteration of these properties at the molecular level. Multimodal biomolecular imaging mass spectrometry combined with quantitative proteomics offers the possibility to perform an in-depth study of biomolecular distributions on complex surfaces. Biomedical applications are currently a major driving force for the rapid development of this field of science. A direct insight in endogenous metabolic pathways as well as pharmacokinetic mechanisms generates a significant amount of interest in the technology. New high performance mass spectrometric technologies such as ion mobility mass spectrometry and high field FTICR-MS are providing more detail on structural identities of molecules observed in pathological tissue sections. We will show how these new developments in imaging MS can elucidate molecular signalling pathways in diseases, single cells and bacterial cultures.