What does this strategy enable?
Combine stable-isotope nutrient tracing with MALDI imaging to map labeling patterns within tissue rather than averaging an entire section.
Transferable workflow
Workflow
- 1
Introduce and measure the nutrient tracer
Use the published nutrient-infusion design and measure circulating tracer labeling.
- 2
Image tissue isotopologues
Acquire MALDI ion images while retaining tissue coordinates.
- 3
Validate signals and map labeling
Check assignments against LC-MS and visualize isotope fractions or enrichment with IsoScope.
Connected resources
Tools used in this strategy
Strategy profile
Related objectives
Spatial metabolomics
Components
Sample preparation, Data acquisition, Metadata analysis
Scope and considerations
Designed for
- Spatial nutrient-use measurements in tracer-labeled mammalian tissues.
Important requirements
- A designed stable-isotope labeling experiment, not an ordinary unlabeled imaging dataset.
- MSI resolving the relevant isotopologues and matched anatomical information.
- Companion LC-MS measurements for signal validation and tracer normalization.
Considerations
- Label incorporation alone is not an absolute reaction-flux measurement.
- Overlapping ions, isotope abundance and sampling time affect interpretation.
- The published tissue implementation is not generally single-cell resolved.
Reusable resources
✓ Code available✓ Published method available
Publication
Wang L, Xing X, Zeng X, et al. Nature Methods 19, 223-230 (2022).