It is well established that lipids play an important role in diseases such as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and cardiovascular diseases. However, in the past decade, it has come to light that lipids may be important in other diseases; particularly in cancer and neurological disorders. Here, lipid metabolism has been investigated using pre-clinical cancer models for melanoma, glioma, non-small-cell lung cancer and colorectal cancer. The role of lipids in the recovery post-stroke has also been studied. Mass spectrometry imaging offers an ideal tool to study lipids in tissue ex-vivo. Lipids ionise well in a number of mass spectrometry modalities, and hundreds of lipids can be imaged in one mass spectrometry imaging experiment. Furthermore, mass spectrometry imaging offers excellent spatial resolution. In this work, both MALDI-MS and DESI-MS have been used for mass spectrometry imaging. Tumour lipid heterogeneity has been a particular focus of this this project. Heterogeneity exists within tumours, as well as between tumours in the same patient; and this causes major problems for therapy. Owing to the untargeted nature, and high spatial resolution of mass spectrometry imaging, it is an excellent technique to study lipid heterogeneity. Adjacent sections (or in some cases the same section used for mass spectrometry imaging), were used for immunofluorescence and H&E staining. By comparing mass spectrometry images with staining techniques, biological reasons for lipid heterogeneity can be established. Here, a particular focus has been on hypoxia (low oxygen tensions), which is a key contributor to tumour heterogeneity, and is associated with aggressive cancers. Additionally, hypoxia is a feature of ischaemic stroke, and lipids in ischaemic stroke have also been investigated. PET is a non-invasive imaging technique which is able to image a radiolabelled molecule (tracer) in the body. Here, PET has been used as a complementary in-vivo technique to mass spectrometry imaging. The tracers [11C] acetate and [18F]-FTHA have been used to image fatty acid synthase and fatty acid uptake in tumours; both of which are hypothesised to be key in cancer progression. REIMS is a newly established mass spectrometry technique. It is ideal for analysing lipids in cells, as sample preparation is minimal. Here, approaches for cell pellet analysis have been tested, and used to detect lipids in cancer cell lines.

Chemical imaging by mass spectrometry is a powerful approach by which to map spatial distributions of molecules to better understand their function in the system of interest. Over the last thirty years, MSI has evolved into a very powerful analytical tool for the investigation of chemically-complex samples including biological tissues, catalytic surfaces and thin layer chromatography plates, among many others. The work in this dissertation aimed to characterize existing MSI methods, while also developing novel instrumentation able to overcome the challenges found in a variety of applications. Different sample preparation and ionization techniques were evaluated to maximize detection of lipid species in brain tissues subjected to traumatic injury to better understand the biological processes involved. Next, differential mobility separation was coupled to an ambient MSI system that resulted in increased signal-to-noise ratios and image contrast. Third, bulky catalytic granite surfaces were imaged to determine specific mineral reactivity and demonstrate the ability of desorption electrospray ionization to image such samples. Fourth, a novel technique was developed names Robotic Plasma Probe Ionization (RoPPI), which uses a vision system-guided robotic arm to probe irregular surfaces for three dimensional surface imaging. Finally, a software program was developed to automatically screen MSI datasets acquired from thin layer chromatography separations for spot-like shapes corresponding to mixture components; this program was named DetectTLC. This research resulted in instrumentation advances for MSI that have enabled increased chemical diversity, enhanced sensitivity and image contrast, imaging of bulky or irregularly-shaped surfaces, and multivariate tools to facilitate data interpretation.

Mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) is a powerful tool that provides mass-specific surface images with micron or sub-micron spatial resolutions. In a microscope MSI experiment, large sample surfaces are illuminated with a defocused laser or primary ion beam, enabling all surface molecules to be desorbed and ionised simultaneously before being electrostatically projected onto a position-sensitive imaging detector at the end of a time-of-flight mass analyser. Traditionally only the image of one mass-to-charge ratio can be obtained in a single acquisition, which limits its applicability. However, the development of event-triggered sensors, such as CMOS-based cameras, revives the microscope MSI method by allowing multi-mass imaging. Therefore, the challenges facing microscope have MSI shifted to improving its mass resolution, effective mass range, and mass accuracy. This thesis proposes effective solutions to each of them, and thus significantly improves the performance and applicability of microscope MSI. To increase the mass range, two modified post-extraction differential acceleration (PEDA) techniques, double-field PEDA and time-variable PEDA, were used to demonstrate mass-resolved stigmatic imaging over a broad m/z range. In double-field PEDA, a potential energy cusp was introduced into the ion acceleration region of an imaging mass spectrometer, creating two m/z foci that were tuned to overlap at the detector plane. This resulted in two focused m/z distributions that stretched the mass-resolved window with m/Δm >= 1000 to 165 Da without any loss in image quality; a range that doubled the 65 Da achieved under similar conditions using the original PEDA technique. In time-variable PEDA, a dynamic pulsed electric field was used to maximize the effective mass range of PEDA. By simultaneously focusing ions between 300 to 700 m/z using an exponentially rising voltage pulse, time-variable PEDA provides an effective mass range more than six times wider than the original PEDA method. Although reflectrons are widely used to improve the mass resolving power of ToF-MS, incorporating them in a microscope MSI instrument is novel. A reflectron MSI instrument was designed and implemented. Simulations demonstrated that one-stage gridless reflectrons were more compatible with the spatial imaging goal of the microscope MSI instrument than the gridded reflectrons. Preliminary experimental results showed that coupling the gridless reflectron with single-field PEDA achieved a mass resolution above 8,000 m/Δm while keeping a spatial resolution of 20 um. In conclusion, the gridless reflectron was able to triple the mass resolving power without losing any spatial imaging power. The poor mass accuracy hurdle was overcome by machine learning algorithms, which can construct clinical diagnostic models that recognise the peak pattern of biological mass spectra and classify them accurately without knowing the actual mass of each peak. After a proof of concept "experiment", where the mass spectra of dye molecules were classified by various learning algorithms, three pairs of datasets (ovarian cancer, prostate cancer, chronic fatigue and their respective controls) were used to build classifiers that accurately distinguish blood samples from controls. Possible biomarkers were also discovered by evaluating the importance of each m/z feature, which may assist further studies.

No / Hypoxia is a common feature observed in solid tumours. It is a target of interest in oncology as it has been found to be closely associated with tumour progression, metastasis and aggressiveness and confers resistance to a variety of chemotherapeutic agents as well as radiotherapy. AQ4N, also known as banoxatrone or 1,4-bis-[2-(dimethylamino-Noxide) ethyl]amino-5,8-dihydroxyanthracene-9,10-dione is a very promising bioreductive prodrug. This paper, describes an application of MALDI-MSI combined with ion mobility separation and an "on-tissue" bottom up proteomic strategy to obtain proteomic data from AQ4N dosed tumour xenograft tissue sections. These data are then correlated with the drug distribution determined also using MALDI-ion mobility separation-mass spectrometry imaging (MALDI-IMS-MSI). PCA-DA and OPLS-DA have been used to compare treated and untreated xenografts and of note is the marked increase in expression of Histone H3.

Imaging mass spectrometry (IMS) in microscope mode allows the spatially resolved molecular constitution of a large sample section to be analysed in a single experiment. If performed in a linear mass spectrometer, the applicability of microscope IMS is limited by a number of factors: the low mass resolving power of the employed ion optics; the time resolution afforded by the scintillator screen based particle detector and the multi-hit capability, per pixel, of the employed imaging sensor. To overcome these limitations, this thesis concerns the construction of an advanced ion optic employing a pulsed extraction method to gain a higher ToF resolution, the development of a bright scintillator screen with short emission lifetime, and the application of the Pixel Imaging Mass Spectrometry (PImMS) sensor with multi-mass imaging and time stamping capabilities. Initial experimental results employing a three electrode ion optic to spatially map ions emitted from a sample surface are presented. By applying a static electric potential a time-of-flight resolution of t/2Δt=54 and a spatial resolution of 20 μm are determined across a field-of-view of 4 mm diameter. While the moderate time-of-flight resolution only allows particles separated by a few Dalton to be distinguished, the instrument is used to demonstrate the multi-mass imaging capabilities of the PImMS sensor when being applied to image grid structures or tissue samples. An improved time-of-flight resolution is achieved by post extraction differential acceleration of a selected range of ions (up to 100 Da) using a newly developed five electrode ion optic. This modification is shown to correct the initial velocity spread of the ions coming off the sample surface, which yields an enhanced time-of-flight resolution of t/2Δt=2000 . The spatial resolution of the instrument is found to be 20 μm across a field-of-view of 4 mm. Adjusting the extraction field strength applied to the ion optic of the constructed mass spectrometer allows the optimised mass range to be tuned to any mass of interest. Ion images are recorded for various samples with comparable spatial and ToF resolution. Hence, studies on tissue sections and multi sample arrays become accessible with the improved design and operational principle of the microscope mode IMS instrument. A fast and efficient conversion of impinging ions into detectable flashes of light, which can consequently be recorded by a fast imaging sensor, is essential to maintain the achievable time-of-flight and spatial resolution of the IMS instrument constructed. In order to find a suitable fast and bright scintillator to be applied in a microchannel based particle detector, various inorganic and organic substances are characterised in terms of their emission properties following electron excitation. Poly-para-phenylene laser dye screens are found to show an outstanding performance among all substances analysed. An emission life time of below 4 ns and a brightness exceeding that of a P47 screen (industry standard) by a factor 2× is determined. No signal degradation is observed over an extended period, and the spatial resolution is found to be comparable to commercial imaging detectors. Hence, these scintillator screens are fully compatible with any ion imaging application requiring a high time resolution. In a further series of mass spectrometric experiments, ions are accelerated onto a scintillator mounted in front of a multi pixel photon counter. The charged particle impact stimulated the emission of a few photons, which are collected by the fast photon counter. Poly-para-phenylene laser dyes again show an outstanding efficiency for the conversion of ions into photons, resulting in a signal enhancement of up to 5× in comparison to previous experiments, which employed an inorganic LYSO scintillator.

L’incidence des gliomes est estimée à 6.6 pour 100 000 habitants. Les survies varient selon le sous-type de gliomes, avec des taux de survie à 5 ans d’environ 48% pour les astrocytomes diffus selon la classification de l’Organisation Mondiale de la Santé (OMS), 28% pour les astrocytomes anaplasiques, 80% pour les oligodendrogliomes, 52% pour les oligodendrogliomes anaplasiques et 5% pour les glioblastomes, tumeurs cérébrales malignes les plus fréquentes.Une meilleure compréhension des mécanismes et de la biologie de ces tumeurs et de nouvelles pistes thérapeutiques sont essentielles afin d’identifier de nouvelles thérapies pouvant améliorer le pronostic des patients. La classification OMS 2016 des tumeurs du système nerveux central a, pour la première fois, intégré les données de biologie moléculaires aux données histopathologiques, afin d’améliorer la distinction des différents sous-groupes de tumeurs et d’orienter au mieux les choix thérapeutiques pour chaque sous-groupe.Nous nous sommes intéressés dans ce travail à l’apport de l’approche en protéomique par imagerie par matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization spectrométrie de masse MALDI (MALDI-MSI) couplée à l’analyse en microprotéomique dans les gliomes dans le cadre de l’étude clinique GLIOMIC (NCT02473484) qui a pour but de réaliser une classification moléculaire des gliomes en intégrant les données cliniques et celles obtenues par ces nouvelles approches.La faisabilité de la technique a d’abord été validée sur une série de gliomes anaplasiques. Dans cette première analyse, nous avons pu démontrer que, bien que l’approche protéomique confirmait également l’hétérogénéité tumorale, les analyses histologiques et protéomiques divergent et apportent des informations complémentaires. L’imagerie moléculaire protéomique a mis en évidence trois différents groupes d’expression de protéines : un groupe de protéines associé au cancer, un groupe de protéines impliquées dans l’inflammation et un groupe de protéines impliquées dans la différentiation des cellules nerveuses et la croissance des neurites.Nous nous sommes ensuite intéressés aux glioblastomes. Les premiers résultats ont également confirmés l’existence des 3 régions d’intérêt définies sur le plan moléculaires, apportant de nouvelles informations par rapport aux données histopathologiques. Ces résultats doivent être confirmés dans une cohorte plus large de patients.En conclusion, l’intégration de ces biomarqueurs protéomiques, aux données cliniques, histopathologiques et de biologie moléculaire, pourrait permettre d’améliorer les connaissances sur les gliomes, leur classification et l’identification de nouvelles cibles thérapeutiques potentielles. / The annual incidence of gliomas is estimated at 6.6 per 100,000. Suvival varies profoundly by type of glioma, with 5-year survival rates of 48% for World Health Organization (WHO) grade II diffuse astrocytoma, 28% for WHO grade III anaplastic astrocytomas, 80% for WHO grade II oligodendroglioma, 52% for WHO grade III anaplastic oligodendroglioma and 5% for WHO grade IV glioblastoma, the most frequent primary malignant brain tumor. A better understanding of the molecular pathogenesis and the biology of these tumors is required to design better therapies which can ultimately improve the prognosis of patients. The WHO 2016 classification of central nervous system tumors has for the first time integrated molecular data with the histopathological data, in order to improve the classification of the different subgroups of central nervous system tumors and to allow to derive more specific therapeutic strategies for each of the different subgroups.In the present work, we aimed at evaluating the value of a proteomic approach using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry coupled with microproteomic analysis in gliomas through the GLIOMIC clinical study (NCT02473484), we aimed at obtaining a molecular classification of glioblastomas by integrating clinical data to the ones obtained by such technologies. The feasibility of this approach was first demonstrated in a cohort of anaplastic gliomas. In this first analysis, we showed that although proteomic analysis confirmed the heterogeneity of brain tumors already observed with the histological analysis, the two approaches may lead to different and complementary information. Three different groups of proteins of interest were identified: one involved in neoplasia, one related to glioma with inflammation, and one involved neurogenesis. Then, analyses of glioblastomas confirmed the three proteomic patterns of interest already observed in the anaplastic gliomas, which represents new information as compared to histopathological analysis alone. These results have to be confirmed in a larger cohort of patients.We conclude that MALDI mass spectrometry coupled with microproteomic analysis may provide new diagnostic information and may aid in the identification of new biomarkers. The integration of these proteomic biomarkers into the clinical data, histopathological data and data from molecular biology may improve the knowledge on gliomas, their classification and development of new targeted therapies.

There is currently no definitive biomarker for Alzheimer's Disease (AD), confirmation of diagnosis is only possible post-mortem. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) has potential in aiding diagnosis, an MRS scan can be performed during an MRI scan, only adding around 10 minutes to scan time. Use of data from the two scans may allow more accurate diagnosis of AD. This thesis investigates a transgenic mouse model of AD, the TASTPM mouse, using in vitro and in vivo MRS as well as matrix assisted laser desorption ionisation mass spectrometry imaging (MALDI MS Imaging). The first aim of the study was to search for a biomarker of AD that may allow better diagnosis or further our understanding of the pathology of the disease. The second aim was to evaluate the TASTPM mouse as a model of AD for use in preclinical testing of amyloid lowering agents. The third aim was to investigate a thalamic pathology in the TASTPM mice using MALDI MS Imaging. Metabolically, we found differences between the brains of TASTPM mice and their wild type base strain in both in vitro and in vivo scans. These differences may be exploited in the preclinical testing of novel amyloid lowering therapies. We also found similarities with human AD and other mouse models, lower N-acetylaspartate, lower glutamate and higher myo-inositol are all observed in human AD, as well as the TASTPM mice in vivo. We also found further evidence of impaired neuronal energy metabolism in TASTPM mice, such as lower succinate. Cerebral hypometabolism is a symptom of human AD. The TASTPM mouse seems to be a fairly good approximation of the human disease, sharing several traits. In our investigation of the thalamic pathology, we discovered a peptide which was strongly localised to the regions of the pathology and isolated it, but were unable to identify it, the work in this area will continue.

One of new techniques in the field of analytical chemistry, which has more and more practical use, is mass spectrometry imaging. With its ability to record representation of substances in samples during the tissue analyze arise problem with a lot of output data which needs to be handled programmatically. The goal of this work is to create an software for processing and visualization data of new standard imzML. As a part of the work, the field of mass spectrometry, primarily MALDI TOF mass spectrometry, is briefly introduced. There are also introduced some methods for mass spectrometry data preprocessing. The work also contains a summary of current state of available software for processing and visualization of mass spectrometry data. With requests from cooperating laboratory a novel software is designed and implemented, which besides the visualization itself, can preprocess the data for example data smoothing with Savitzky-Golay method, internal calibration or peak detection with continuous wavelet transformation. The software was successfully tested on real data sets.

(EN) Ambient mass spectrometry defines the versatile group of methods providing analysis of solid sample surfaces and liquids in an open atmospheric pressure environment, where the sample is simultaneously accessible to another treatment. Ambient mass spectrometry is a sharply developing research area in the analytical chemistry. It provides fast, direct analysis of objects without any sample pretreatment with the use of the mass spectrometer. Desorption electrospray ionization (DESI) and desorption atmospheric pressure photoionization (DAPPI) equipped with software control of the sample holder were investigated in this doctoral thesis. These methods use a spray of solvents for desorption and ionization molecules from solid substrate and they are suitable tools for mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) of low molecular organic compounds, where the chemical identity of molecules present on a surface is examined as a function of spatial distribution. This project deals with applications and instrumental development. As for the applications, the position of the defense glands on insect bodies, separation of the lipids in complex mixtures on thin-layer chromatography (TLC) plates, or steroid metabolites in woman urine during pregnancy were thus investigated. As for the instrumental development, the most...

Ambient ionization techniques, such as nanoDESI and nanoESI, allow for the direct analysis of complex samples under atmospheric pressure with no sample pretreatment. These ionization techniques are utilized for a variety of applications, including lipidomics, online reactions and imaging of small molecules. Nanoelectrospray ionization (nanoESI) is an ionization technique that is similar to electrospray ionization (ESI) but uses smaller sample volumes. NanoESI can be used for complex biological sample analysis and when coupled with online photochemical reactions, such as the Paternò-Büchi (PB) reaction, structural information about lipids can be determined. Likewise, nanoDESI is another ambient ionization technique that employs the ESI mechanism but incorporates online liquid extraction of analytes. This technique is easily incorporated to mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) to provide spatial localization of biomolecules in tissues. Additionally, nanoDESI allows for tunable solvent extraction and online derivatization reactions. These techniques were used to determine structural information of neutral lipids, to image lipids from different developmental stages of lung tissue, and to image and quantify small molecule drugs and metabolites in tissue.