3A-O2-1640 PDF
Inorganic Mass Spectrometer for Biochemistry
Combination of the organic metabolite-imaging and elemental imaging can provide piercing information to understand the biochemical function of the elements and also to evaluate both the elemental metabolism and the nutritional status of cells in animals. The LA-ICPMS technique has further analytical advantages as is capable to obtain elemental and isotopic imaging information from large-sized samples (>10 mm) [1]. This is of crucial importance to secure a bridge between the microscopic and macroscopic realm in biochemical and geochemical studies.
Another importance of the ICP-MS technique that the technique has blossomed the key technique for the isotopic study in the field of geo- and bio-chemistry. Precision and accuracy in isotope ratio measurements can be dramatically improved by the multiple collector system setup adopted in the magnetic sector based ICP-mass spectrometry (MC-ICPMS) [2]. Many pioneering researchers suggested that improper nutritional status or disorder of the elemental metabolism, can be evaluated by the changes in the isotope ratio of the elements.
With the elemental and isotopic data presented so far demonstrated clearly that the inorganic mass spectrometry has immediate potential as a reconnaissance method to expand the mass cytomery or imaging cytometry for both the geo- and bio-chemical samples.
References
1) R. E. Russo et al., Anal. Chem. 85, 6162−6177 (2013).
2) T. Hirata, Analyst, 121, 1407-1411 (1996).