Many lipid questions are essentially spatial: why do neurons and glial regions differ in lipids? Why do tumor and paratumor lipid profiles differ? Traditional lipidomics homogenizes to measure average amounts, flattening these differences. Spatial lipidomics uses MSI to preserve structure and directly present real distribution, answering 'the mechanism behind distribution differences'.
The application notes of the Neo-Source MSI DPI list 'spatial lipidomics' as a core research direction, and state that photochemical post-ionization extends the detectable lipids, terpenoids, flavonoids, amino acids and glycosides to more than a hundred in both positive and negative ion modes, with overall signal enhanced by 1–3 orders of magnitude.
Lipids span a wide polarity range, from strongly polar phospholipids to completely non-polar triglycerides and cholesterol. Traditional DESI has polarity bias against non-polar components and strong ion suppression; the Neo-Source MSI DPI has no polarity bias, simultaneously covering polar and non-polar lipids, with overall metabolite signal enhanced by 1–3 orders of magnitude and significantly improved detection of non-polar components.
Published quantitative cases show that cholesterol signal in mouse brain increased by about 205x; in negative ion mode PE-O/PE signal increased by 2–4x, intuitively reflecting the sensitivity leap of photoionization for lipids.
In the DPI case, mouse brain sections could simultaneously image neurotransmitters and various lipids (GalCer, etc.), guiding neuroscience, pharmacology and neurochemistry; in the melanocytic nevus study, the nevus region and normal tissue showed systematic differences in non-polar lipids such as MAG/DAG/TG and in S1P, cholesterol, PC and SM, and the characteristic molecule distribution highly matched the H&E nevus region (Talanta, 2021).
Matrix-free preparation makes such lipid studies, which often require many sample comparisons, easier to deploy: the two Neo-Source imaging sources are matrix-free and measure on demand, and the section remains intact after imaging for continued H&E or IHC validation.
A single lipid map is insufficient to explain mechanisms; spatial lipidomics is often combined with spatial metabolomics and spatial proteomics to form multi-omics integrated imaging. The two Neo-Source imaging sources are compatible with mainstream mass spectrometers from Agilent, AB SCIEX and Thermo, with complementary resolution: DPI 20–200 μm, LDPI 2–3 μm matrix-free ambient imaging.
Engineered, DPI provides a self-developed titanium-alloy ion transfer tube that does not damage the sample at the front end and is detachable for cleaning, enabling stable and reproducible lipid spatial research.
To obtain detailed specifications, compatible models, or a quotation for the MSI LDPI / DPI full series imaging ion sources, visit the Neo-Source official website, or contact the official team for compatibility advice tailored to your mass spectrometer (Agilent / SCIEX / Thermo and other mainstream MS).