The SAHMRI Mass Spectometry (MS) Imaging Core Facility was established in 2019 and builds on the extensive experience of Dr Snel and Dr Trim in this new field of research.

They worked together on the first publication showing MALDI ion mobility MS imaging on a commercial mass spectrometer (Trim et al., Anal. Chem. 2008).

Since then, they have both been active in the field of MS-imaging, with a particular interest in the analysis of small molecules by MALDI mass spectrometry. Small molecule imaging is poorly covered by traditional techniques, making MS-imaging uniquely suitable (see Trim and Snel, Methods, 2016). In biomedical research the questions that can be addressed using this technology are: the spatial distribution of endogenous lipids and metabolites in tissue (e.g., Snel and Fuller, Anal. Chem. 2010 and Stauber et al., JASMS 2010) as well as the tissue distribution of exogenous compounds such as small molecule drugs and their metabolites (Mutuku et al., Sci. reports 2019).

In 2019, the SAHMRI MS-imaging core became the first laboratory in the world to acquire the Bruker timsTOF Flex mass spectrometer as part of the ACRF (Australian Cancer Research Foundation) Centre for Integrated Cancer Systems Biology. This instrument boasts a high lateral resolution MALDI source (20 μm), and high-performance trapped ion mobility separation coupled with a Q-Tof mass spectrometer. Integration of imaging data with metabolomics data is enabled through Metaboscape 5.0 software.

The Imaging core also offers DESI imaging capabilities on the Waters Xevo G2-XS. This technique is best suited to larger samples, e.g., whole-body sections.

The facility offers a fee-for-service imaging solution including sample preparation, data acquisition, and data interpretation services. For information on costs, please contact the facility manager.