A Mass spectrometry based imaging method developed for the intracellular detection of HIV protease inhibitors

Mass spectrometry imaging is a promising technique for measuring drugs and drug metabolites in cells and tissues. In this manuscript we describe a method for the imaging of HIV protease inhibitors. As a model system we used Mono Mac 6 cells cultured with the HIV protease inhibitors saquinavir and nelfinavir deposited on glass slides using a cytocentrifuge. A sublimation/deposition device for homogeneous matrix deposition was constructed which allows imaging of these HIV protease inhibitors at clinically relevant concentrations. Using this matrix sublimation/deposition method, glass slides containing the cytocentrifuged cells can be measured and analyzed by two types of mass spectrometry techniques, viz. matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flght (MALDI-TOF) and MALDI Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (FTICR), and this makes it possible to perform imaging rapidly (MALDI-TOF) and with a very high selectivity (MALDI-FTICR). Copyright

• View at Publisher
• View at Pubmed
• View at Scopus
• View at Web of Science