A Rapid, Cell Culture-Based Method for Biomarker Discovery and Candidate Screening by MALDI-MSI

摘要

Biomarker discovery is important for characterization of disease mechanisms and the advancement of therapeutics, and requires rapid and efficient in vitro screening methods. We have developed a cell culture-based screening method using slide adapters on an ITO slide for direct analysis of cell culture by matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry imaging (MALDI-MSI) (Figure 1). Using a recognized in vitro picornavirus infection model, we established a monitoring platform based on MALDI-MSI that reiterates our previous findings of host cell alterations in membrane synthesis alterations due to viral infection. This rapid screening method yields biologically relevant and repeatable results within hours of culture. The method can also be readily translated to a multitude of diverse purposes, such as drug screening or infection monitoring.