Mass Spectrometry Imaging for Visualization of Lipids

Abstract

It is important to investigate the distribution of lipid species in tissue to understand in situ biological phenomenon. The use of mass spectrometry imaging is attracting attention as a new valuable tool for visualization of lipid species in tissue. Mass spectrometry imaging is a two-dimensional mass spectrometry technique used to visualize the distribution of lipid species. Several lipid species including phospholipid, triglyceride, glycolipid, can be visualized by using mass spectrometry imaging. In this review, the applications of mass spectrometry imaging in lipid biology are briefly described.