PR000988 (Project)

Description:The human metabolome provides a window into the mechanisms and biomarkers of various diseases. However, because of limited availability, many sample types are still difficult to study by metabolomic analyses. Here, we present a new mass spectrometry (MS)-based metabolomics strategy that only consumes sub-nanoliter sample volumes. The approach consists of combining a customized metabolomics workflow with a pulsed MS ion generation method, known as triboelectric nanogenerator inductive nanoelectrospray ionization (TENGi nanoESI) MS. Samples tested for this approach included exhaled breath condensates (EBC) collected from cystic fibrosis (CF) patients as well as in vitro-cultured human mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs). Both test samples were only available in minimum amounts. Experiments showed that picoliter-volume spray pulses sufficed to generate high-quality spectral fingerprints, which increased the information density produced per unit sample volume. This TENGi nanoESI strategy has the potential to fill in the gap in metabolomics where liquid chromatography-MS-based analyses cannot be applied. Our method could open up new avenues for future investigations into understanding metabolic changes caused by diseases or external stimuli.