Knowing the broad chemical makeup of a single cell can advance disease diagnosis and develop more effective therapeutics. In medicine, pharmaceuticals and environmental monitoring, there is a need to detect, target and chemically characterize cellular subpopulations in their native environment.
To meet this need, ORNL researchers have developed CellSight, which enables rapid mass spectrometry of individual cells. The product ejects tiny droplets of liquid solution containing single cells through a mechanism similar to an inkjet printer head. The cell is imaged, isolated and then transferred to the mass spectrometry system, where CellSight’s unique software delivers quick analysis.
This allows researchers to get information on thousands of lipids and metabolites with single cell resolution without requiring molecular labeling or extensive sample preparation procedures.
Funding for the project came from the DOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development program.
The ORNL team was led by John Cahill and included Vilmos Kertesz.