MALDI Mass Spectrometry Imaging for the Masses: Multimodal Mass Spectrometry Analysis of Statins’ Effect on Earthworms

This first part of this webinar series focused on the emergence of MALDI-Based MS Imaging along with cost-effective performance of the technique on a Shimadzu MALDI-8020.

In this second installment, we will expand on the first by providing a comprehensive view of the utility of the Shimadzu MALDI-8020. The Tucker lab has extensively explored the effect of pharmaceuticals and personal care products on the environment. Here, we sought to determine the effect environmentally relevant concentrations of pharmaceuticals on the terrestrial environment by using the earthworm Eisenia hortensis as a bio-indicator of soil toxicity. Eisenia hortensis was exposed to statins, a class of blood lipid-lowering agents, for two weeks, to either 1000%, 100%, 10%, or a control of the environmentally relevant concentration of atorvastatin (ATO), lovastatin (LOV), simvastatin (SIM), or Type I water. Following exposure, worms were prepared for analysis by either liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) or matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry imaging (MALDI MSI). LC-MS/MS provided a quantitative assessment of the amount of statin absorbed by the worms. MALDI MSI allowed for putative identification and visualization of the distribution of the statin parent compound, lipids, and other related metabolites. This study exemplifies the utility of complementary analytical approaches by using quantitative LC-MS/MS and qualitative MALDI-MSI to obtain a complete metabolic profile of statin-dosed earthworms to assess the effect of environmentally relevant concentrations of pharmaceuticals on the terrestrial environment.

Presenter: Kendra Selby

Presenter: Kevin Tucker