Impact of Cold Ischemia on the Proteome and Metabolome of Tissue Samples and Preanalytical Quality Control Using Mass Spectrometry Imaging

Cold ischemia significantly affects tissue sample quality
and analytical
accuracy. However, research on the effects of cold ischemia on tissue
proteomics and metabolomics is limited, and efficient tools for assessing
tissue quality are lacking. In this study, mass spectrometry (MS)-based
proteomics and metabolomics were employed to evaluate the impact of
cold ischemia times and temperature, and MS imaging (MSI) was explored
as a high-throughput platform for tissue quality assessment. Our findings
indicated that the proteome exhibits greater overall stability than
the metabolome and that cold ischemia at 25 °C causes tissue
molecular degradation more rapidly than at 4 °C. We also identified
functional pathways particularly sensitive to cold ischemia, including
the upregulation of cellular detoxification and small-molecule metabolism,
alongside the inhibition of nucleotide excision repair functions.
Additionally, MALDI MSI can identify the change in certain highly
unsaturated lipids caused by cold ischemia. Specifically, phosphatatidylcholines
(40:6) and phosphatatidylcholines (34:3) showed sensitivities of 91.67%
and specificities of 88.89% for identifying ″low-quality″
leiomyoma tissues, indicating their potential as quality biomarkers.
These insights can guide sample collection and selection strategies
based on analytical objectives and provide a theoretical basis for
preanalysis quality management.