Analytical Sciences


Abstract − Analytical Sciences, 24(5), 559 (2008).

Live Single-Cell Molecular Analysis by Video-Mass Spectrometry
Naohiro TSUYAMA, Hajime MIZUNO, Emi TOKUNAGA, and Tsutomu MASUJIMA
Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Hiroshima University, 1-2-3 Kasumi, Minami, Hiroshima 734-8553, Japan
The direct molecular analysis of a live single cell viewed under a video-microscope has been developed. The cell contents are sucked into a nano-electrospray tip, and hundreds of peaks of ionic compounds of low molecular weight are detected by nano-ESI Q-TOF mass spectrometry (MS). Cell-specific MS peaks in a single mouse-embryonic fibroblasts cell are extracted by a t-test, and one of the peaks is proceeded to MS/MS analysis for molecular identification. This method is direct and quick to identify the molecules of a cell with simultaneous observation by a video-microscope.