A pneumatically assisted nanospray desorption electrospray ionization source for increased solvent versatility and enhanced metabolite detection from tissue

Nanospray desorption electrospray ionization (nano-DESI) has been established as a powerful technique for mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) of biomolecules from tissue samples. The direct liquid extraction of analytes from a surface at ambient pressure negates the need for significant sample preparation or matrix application. Although many recent studies have applied nano-DESI to new and exciting applications, there has not been much work in the development and improvement of the nano-DESI source. Here, we incorporate a nebulizer to replace the self-aspirating secondary capillary in the conventional nano-DESI setup, and characterize the device by use of rat kidney tissue sections. We find that the pneumatically assisted nano-DESI device offers improved sensitivity for metabolite species by 1–3 orders of magnitude through more complete desolvation and reduced ionization suppression. Further, the pneumatically assisted nano-DESI device reduces the dependence on probe-to-surface distance and enables sampling and imaging using pure water as the nano-DESI solvent. This provides exclusive detection and imaging of many highly polar endogenous species. Overall, the developed pneumatically assisted nano-DESI device provides more versatile solvent selection and an increased sensitivity for metabolites, which generates ion images of higher contrast – allowing for more intricate studies of metabolite distribution.