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Identification of Metabolites in Single Cells by Ion Mobility Separation and Mass Spectrometry

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Single Cell Metabolism

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 2064))

Abstract

Non-targeted metabolic analysis of single cells by mass spectrometry (MS) is important for understanding individual cell functions and characterizing cell-to-cell heterogeneity. However, identifying biomolecules in single cells presents significant challenges due to the low picoliter volume samples and the structural diversity of metabolites. Capillary microsampling electrospray ionization (ESI) MS with ion mobility separation (IMS) enables the analysis of single cells under ambient conditions with minimum sample pretreatment and improved specificity. Here, we describe a protocol for the analysis of the metabolic makeup, and the identification of ions produced from single cells by capillary microsampling ESI-IMS-MS.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the financial support from the U.S. National Science Foundation under Grant No. CHE-1152302.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA

    Akos Vertes

  2. Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Alexandria, VA, USA

    Linda L. Allworth

  3. Biomolecular Measurement Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MB, USA

    Linwen Zhang

  4. Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research, Rockville, MB, USA

    Linwen Zhang

Authors
  1. Linwen Zhang
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  2. Linda L. Allworth
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  3. Akos Vertes
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Akos Vertes .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Waters Corporation, Milford, MA, USA

    Bindesh Shrestha

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Zhang, L., Allworth, L.L., Vertes, A. (2020). Identification of Metabolites in Single Cells by Ion Mobility Separation and Mass Spectrometry. In: Shrestha, B. (eds) Single Cell Metabolism. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2064. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-9831-9_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-9831-9_2

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  • Publisher Name: Humana, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-9829-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-9831-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Protocols

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