Home › Analytical Chem › Imaging Metals in Brain Tissue by Laser Ablation - Inductively Coupled Plasma - Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS)
Analytical Chem JoVE (Open Access) Citable · DOI

Imaging Metals in Brain Tissue by Laser Ablation - Inductively Coupled Plasma - Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS)

DOI: 10.3791/55042-v
What you'll learn
  • ✓ Prepare and calibrate LA-ICP-MS instrumentation for metal imaging in brain tissue
  • ✓ Acquire and process quantitative metal distribution data from mouse neurological samples
  • ✓ Interpret spatial metal localization patterns in wild-type mouse brain tissue
Protocol

Quantitatively mapping metals in tissue by laser ablation - inductively coupled plasma - mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) is a sensitive analytical technique that can provide new insight into how metals participate in normal function and disease processes. Here, we describe a protocol for quantitatively imaging metals in thin sections of mouse neurological tissue.

Difficulty
advanced
Total time
~4–6 hours per sample (including instrument setup, ablation, and data processing)
Model organism
Mouse (unspecified strain, wild-type)
Biosafety
BSL-1

Steps

1
Prepare laser ablation and ICP-MS instrumentation

Set up and calibrate the LA-ICP-MS system components, including laser optics, ablation chamber, and mass spectrometer detectors. Configure instrument parameters for quantitative metal imaging of thin tissue sections.

▶ 01:12
2
Execute data acquisition and analysis protocols

Perform laser ablation scanning across brain tissue samples, collect mass spectrometry signals, and process raw data to generate quantitative metal distribution maps.

▶ 03:57
3
Interpret metal distribution in brain tissue

Visualize and analyze the spatial localization of metals across different brain regions in wild-type mouse samples, identifying tissue-specific elemental patterns.

▶ 06:49
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