TY - JOUR
T1 - Morphologically compatible mass spectrometric analysis of lipids in cytological specimens
AU - Olson, Matthew T
AU - Baxi, Aparna
AU - ElNaggar, Mariam
AU - Umbricht, Christopher
AU - Yergey, Alfred L.
AU - Clarke, William
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 American Society of Cytopathology
PY - 2016/1/1
Y1 - 2016/1/1
N2 - Introduction Modern lipid analysis requires mass spectrometric techniques, though to date these have been developed and applied primarily to histological serial sections. As such, there has been little emphasis on using mass spectrometry in such a way that the same specimen can yield both chemical and morphological information. Here, we present a mass spectrometric method that enables measurement of lipids from cells on cytospin slides in a way that preserves the cells for subsequent cytomorphologic evaluation. Materials and methods Standardized cultures of MDA-MB-231, a breast cancer cell line, were prepared as cytospins and subjected to analysis using a Prosolia Flowprobe sampling and ionization source attached to a Thermo Scientific Quadrupole-Orbitrap mass spectrometer. Chemical compositions were deduced with accurate mass measurements and fragmentation of high intensity peaks to further determine chemical structure. After mass spectrometry, the slides were stained and cover-slipped, and the cells were reviewed for cytomorphologic features of breast cancer. These were compared to control slides of the same cellular concentration that had not been subjected to this analysis. Results Spectra from samples of all cellular concentrations demonstrated characteristic qualitative features that were discovered to represent phosphatidylcholines, phosphatidylglycerols, and phosphatidylserines with fragmentation and accurate mass matching. Cytomorphologic analysis demonstrated excellent preservation of the cells subjected to the Flowprobe analysis. Conclusion Direct extraction, ionization, and identification of lipids is possible from cytologic preparations in such a way that the analyzed material is preserved and useful for subsequent microscopic analysis.
AB - Introduction Modern lipid analysis requires mass spectrometric techniques, though to date these have been developed and applied primarily to histological serial sections. As such, there has been little emphasis on using mass spectrometry in such a way that the same specimen can yield both chemical and morphological information. Here, we present a mass spectrometric method that enables measurement of lipids from cells on cytospin slides in a way that preserves the cells for subsequent cytomorphologic evaluation. Materials and methods Standardized cultures of MDA-MB-231, a breast cancer cell line, were prepared as cytospins and subjected to analysis using a Prosolia Flowprobe sampling and ionization source attached to a Thermo Scientific Quadrupole-Orbitrap mass spectrometer. Chemical compositions were deduced with accurate mass measurements and fragmentation of high intensity peaks to further determine chemical structure. After mass spectrometry, the slides were stained and cover-slipped, and the cells were reviewed for cytomorphologic features of breast cancer. These were compared to control slides of the same cellular concentration that had not been subjected to this analysis. Results Spectra from samples of all cellular concentrations demonstrated characteristic qualitative features that were discovered to represent phosphatidylcholines, phosphatidylglycerols, and phosphatidylserines with fragmentation and accurate mass matching. Cytomorphologic analysis demonstrated excellent preservation of the cells subjected to the Flowprobe analysis. Conclusion Direct extraction, ionization, and identification of lipids is possible from cytologic preparations in such a way that the analyzed material is preserved and useful for subsequent microscopic analysis.
KW - Ambient ionization
KW - Ancillary techniques
KW - Cytopathology
KW - Cytospin
KW - Mass spectrometry
KW - Non-gynecologic cytopathology
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84949649342&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84949649342&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jasc.2015.10.001
DO - 10.1016/j.jasc.2015.10.001
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84949649342
VL - 5
SP - 3
EP - 8
JO - Journal of the American Society of Cytopathology
JF - Journal of the American Society of Cytopathology
SN - 2213-2945
IS - 1
ER -