Label-free quantitation of peptide release from neurons in a microfluidic device with mass spectrometry imaging.

ABSTRACT: Microfluidic technology allows the manipulation of mass-limited samples and when used with cultured cells, enables control of the extracellular microenvironment, making it well suited for studying neurons and their response to environmental perturbations. While matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry (MS) provides for off-line coupling to microfluidic devices for characterizing small-volume extracellular releasates, performing quantitative studies with MALDI is challenging. Here we describe a label-free absolute quantitation approach for microfluidic devices. We optimize device fabrication to prevent analyte losses before measurement and then incorporate a substrate that collects the analytes as they flow through a collection channel. Following collection, the

SUBMITTER: Zhong M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3558029 | biostudies-literature | 2012 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature