single-cell and high-resolution analysis of elements in cells and tissue cultures using la-icp-ms

Authors: Markéta Vejvodová^1, Polina Nadtochaeva^2, Michael Killinger^1,3, Tomáš Vaculovič^1,
Monika Pávková Goldbergová^2 and Viktor Kanický^1,2

^1Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University

^2Department of Pathological Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University

^3Institute of Analytical Chemistry, Czech Academy of Sciences

e-mail: 474005@muni.cz

Key words: Single-cell analysis, bioimaging, LA-ICP-MS, High-resolution analysis

Nickel (Ni) and titanium (Ti) are most commonly used as joint replacements. In some cases, such as
inflammation, bacterial infection or increased mechanical stress can cause these elements to be
released and penetrate surrounding tissue or even accumulate in specific organs. Only a few methods
can be used for the analysis of ultra concentrations of ions in animal fluids and tissue, but
almost no one can also characterize the distribution of the ion. Even though laser ablation
inductively coupled plasma spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) is an analytical method for analyzing an
inorganic sample, especially geological ones, today, it is being used more and more to determine
the distribution of elements in different types of biological samples. Bioimaging using LA-ICP-MS
can be used to clarify questions of biomedical research such as bioaccumulation and bioavailability
of elements in the tissues and provides insight into the basic chemical composition of living
organisms.^1, 2

The main objective is to develop a method to determine the distribution of elements at the cellular
level, which means a mapping with a resolution at the level of micrometers. From a chemical point
of view, a high-sensitivity method for the determination of selected elements (Ni, Ti) in tissues
or even in individual cells will be developed and the behavior of these ions in the animal organism
will be characterized.


References

[1] M. Mikulewicz et al., Biological Trace Element Research, 142 (2011) 865-889, Cytocompatibility
of Medical Biomaterials Containing Nickel by Osteoblasts: a Systematic Literature Review.

[2] P.A. Doble et al., Chemical Reviews, 121 (2021) 11769-11822, Laser Ablation-Inductively Coupled
Plasma-Mass Spectrometry Imaging in Biology.