The functions of biomolecules depends on their characteristics, content, and position. Mass spectrometry imaging (MSI)-based spatial metabolomics adds localization information on the basis of traditional metabolomics qualitative and quantitative analysis, and has become a powerful tool for analyzing functions of biomolecules. This article showcases the technological progress of spatial metabolomics and its applications in medicine and pharmacy. Qualitatively, we propose an ion image similarity and database matching annotation strategy. This strategy can suppress the misdiagnosis rate of metabolite annotation in rat brain tissue slices. Based on this strategy, a total of 362 metabolites (level 1) and their microregional distribution information were obtained, covering various functional metabolic modules. In order to ensure the accuracy of experimental results, we have established a spatial metabolic quality control system, which includes technical standards and operational guidelines for key nodes such as sample preparation, machine testing, quality control, and data analysis, ensuring stable detection of different samples, especially large queue samples. In medical research, we combined spatial metabolomics with spatial transcriptomics to study gastric cancer and discovered cell-specific metabolic remodeling and interactions in gastric cancer[1]. In pharmaceutical research, we have established a standardized method for q-MSI of drug quantitative, which can accurately quantify the tissue distribution of drugs or exogenous substances. These technological have expanded the application of spatial metabolomics in fields such as cancer and pharmaceuticals.
Literature:
[1] C. Sun, Nat. Commun. 2023, 14, 2692.
