Combined Immunohistochemistry after Mass Spectrometry Imaging for Superior Spatial Information

Objective: Tissue slides analyzed by MS imaging (MSI) are stained by H&E (Haematoxylin and Eosin) to identify regions of interest. As it can be difficult to identify specific cells of interest by H&E alone, data analysis may be impaired. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) can highlight cells of interest but single or combined IHC on tissue sections analyzed by MSI have not been performed.

Methods: We performed MSI on bone marrow biopsies from patients with multiple myeloma and stained different antibodies (CD38, CD138, MUM1, kappa- and lambda). A combination of CK5/6/TTF1 and Napsin-A/p40 is stained after MSI on adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma of the lung. Staining intensities of p40 after MSI and on a serial section are quantified on a tissue microarray (n = 44) by digital analysis.

Results: Digital evaluation reveals weaker staining intensities after MSI as compared to serial sections. Staining quality and quantity after MSI enables to identify cells of interest. On the tissue microarray, one out of 44 tissue specimens shows no staining of p40 after MSI, but weak nuclear staining on a serial section.

Conclusion: We demonstrated that single and double IHC staining is feasible on tissue sections previously analyzed by MSI, with decreased staining intensities.