Chemical and topographical single-cell imaging at nanoscale resolution by near-field desorption mass spectrometry

How are chemicals distributed in a cell? Chinese scientists have developed a combined mass spectrometry and biological imaging device that enables direct, label-free detection, and high-resolution mapping of chemicals inside a biological cell. As demonstrated in their publication in the journal Angewandte Chemie, the distribution and accumulation of the disinfectant proflavine around the cell organelles could be visualized directly, based on the mass signal from the molecule.