Viral biomarker detection and validation using MALDI Mass Spectrometry Imaging (MSI)

INTRODUCTION: Mass Spectrometry Imaging (MSI) is a hybrid mass spectrometry technique that integrates aspects of traditional microscopy and mass spectrometry-based omics analysis. The traditional MALDI TOF/TOF instrument still remains the dominant platform for this type of anal-ysis. However, with reduced mass resolution compared to other platforms it is insufficient to rely on mass resolution alone for peptide identification. Here we propose a hybrid method of data analysis that integrates both image-based analysis and a parallel protein identification workflow using peptide mass fingerprinting, and its successful application to the detection and validation of viral biomarkers. METHODS: FFPE samples were imaged as described previously in an UltrafleXtreme MALDI TOF/TOF. Total mass spectra were exported and searched against the mouse FASTA da-tabase, while companion images were exported and processed with image J. RESULTS: Peptide mass fingerprinting (PMF) revealed 14 target peptides that were successfully assigned to viral proteins while a pixel based correlational analysis revealed a very high R2 correlation (>0.81) be-tween those same peptides assigned to the NS1 and VP1 viral proteins. CONCLUSIONS: We successfully identified and validated the presence of viral biomarkers to a high degree of confidence using MALDI MSI.