Imaging mass spectrometry revealed the distinct distributions of ganglioside molecular species in the mouse hippocampus development.

摘要

Despite of extensive studies on oligosaccharide moiety of glycosphingolipids, little attention has been paid to their lipid moiety. Gangliosides, sialic acid containing glycosphingolipids, are particularly abundant in the central nervous system (CNS). A specific characteristic of CNS gangliosides is the structure of their long-chain base (LCB) with 18 or 20 carbons. C20-gangliosides are found only in the CNS and their content increases throughout the life span. Different distribution of C18- and C20-species in the brain has been prospected, however, there were no efficient tools to visualize their distribution. We have developed sample preparation techniques in imaging mass spectrometry (IMS) and applied them to visualize the lipid distribution on the biological tissue section. Here, we report the heterogeneous distribution in the mouse hippocampus by IMS which can distinguish ganglioside molecular species.