Lipidomic profiling of single mammalian cells by infrared matrix-assisted laser desorption electrospray ionization (IR-MALDESI)

To better understand cell-to-cell heterogeneity, advanced analytical tools are in a growing demand for elucidating chemical compositions of each cell within a population. However, the progress of single-cell chemical analysis has been restrained by the limitations of small cell volumes and minute cellular concentrations. Here, we present a rapid and sensitive method for investigating the lipid profiles of isolated single cells using infrared matrix-assisted laser desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (IR-MALDESI-MS). In this work, HeLa cells were dispersed onto a glass slide, and the cellular contents were ionized by IR-MALDESI and measured using a Q-Exactive HF-X mass spectrometer. Importantly, this approach does not require extraction and/or enrichment of analytes prior to MS analysis. Using this approach, 45 distinct lipid species, predominantly phospholipids, were detected and putatively annotated from the single HeLa cells. The proof-of-concept study demonstrates the feasibility and efficacy of IR-MALDESI-MS for rapid lipidomic profiling of single cells, which provides an important basis for future work on differentiation between normal and diseased cells at various developmental states, which can offer new insights into cellular metabolic pathways and pathological processes. Although not yet accomplished, we believe this approach can be readily used as an assessment tool to compare the number of identified species during source evolution and method optimization (intra-laboratory), and also disclose the complementary nature of different direct analytical approaches for the coverage of different types of endogenous analytes (inter-laboratory).Graphical abstract.