Tuhin K. Sinha1, Zhengyu K. Yang2, Erin H. Seeley3, Mary Loveless4, Daniel C. Colvin4, Richard M. Caprioli3, John C. Gore1
1Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA; 2Chemical and Physical Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA; 3Mass Spectrometry Research Center, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA; 4Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
We demonstrate a method to interrogate and correlate proteomic information from matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization imaging mass spectrometry (MALDI IMS) in light of corresponding in vivo MR measures. MALDI IMS is capable of generating an image where each pixel represents a spectrum of constituent tissue proteins. We examine these spectra, in a co-registered, voxel-by-voxel basis to investigate contrast variations in MR. We hypothesize that the intrinsic variation in MR that is related to heterogeneous macromolecular distribution in tissues can be elucidated using MALDI IMS. We demonstrate quantitative correlation of MALDI IMS data in a rat brain with T1 measures, and show the varying proteomic profiles which correspond with these correlations.