Mass spectrometry imaging of untreated wet cell membranes in solution using single-layer graphene

Heejin Lim, Sun Young Lee, Yereum Park, Hyeonggyu Jin, Daeha Seo, Yun Hee Jang, Dae Won Moon

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

19 Scopus citations

Abstract

We report a means by which atomic and molecular secondary ions, including cholesterol and fatty acids, can be sputtered through single-layer graphene to enable secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) imaging of untreated wet cell membranes in solution at subcellular spatial resolution. We can observe the intrinsic molecular distribution of lipids, such as cholesterol, phosphoethanolamine and various fatty acids, in untreated wet cell membranes without any labeling. We show that graphene-covered cells prepared on a wet substrate with a cell culture medium reservoir are alive and that their cellular membranes do not disintegrate during SIMS imaging in an ultra-high-vacuum environment. Ab initio molecular dynamics calculations and ion dose-dependence studies suggest that sputtering through single-layer graphene occurs through a transient hole generated in the graphene layer. Cholesterol imaging shows that methyl-β-cyclodextrin preferentially extracts cholesterol molecules from the cholesterol-enriched regions in cell membranes.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)316-320
Number of pages5
JournalNature Methods
Volume18
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2021

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature America, Inc.

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