Medical researchers who would like to study different molecules in cells have up until now been forced to highlight them with fluorescent markers. Although this method has worked reasonably well, there are several important component parts that cannot be studied.

For example, it is not possible to see how fat is distributed in the cell in different diseases, something that is necessary in order to understand e.g., how the immune system functions or to study the molecular causes behind cardio-vascular diseases.

The new method is a further development of organic secondary ion mass spectrometry. The basic technique has been used by physicists for more than 50 years, but was long considered unsuitable for biological testing.

“In previous attempts, the technique´s ion source broke down the cells. It was like trying to analyse a cigarette by looking at its smoke," says Håkan Nygren.
 
In recent years, new ion sources that do not fragment biological samples have been developed. The team of researchers at Sahlgrenska Academy are among the first in the world to use this technique and it has already resulted in a wave of new research results.

Among other things, two new theses have been presented in a period of just a few months.

“Suddenly, we can conduct experiments and get results that were previously not considered possible to achieve. For example, we can measure bone formation around titanium implants by showing the mineral composition of bone," says Håkan Nygren.

 
Publication: Trend in Biotechnology
Article´s title: High resolution imaging by organic secondary ion mass spectrometry
Author: Håkan Nygren and Per Malmberg