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Tissue distribution of metabolites in Cordyceps cicadae determined by DESI-MSI analysis

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Abstract

In this paper, we establish an in situ visualization analysis method to image the spatial distribution of metabolites in different parts (sclerotium, coremium) and different microregions of Cordyceps cicadae (C. cicadae) to achieve the in situ visual characterization of tissues for a variety of metabolites such as nucleosides, amino acids, polysaccharides, organic acids, fatty acids, and so on. The study included LC–MS chemical composition identification, preparation of C. cicadae tissue sections, DEDI-MSI analysis, DESI combined with Q-TOF/MS to obtain high-resolution imaging of mass-to-charge ratio and space, imaging of C. cicadae in positive–negative ion mode with a spatial resolution of 100 μm, and localizing and identifying its chemical compositions based on its precise mass. A total of 62 compounds were identified; nucleosides were mainly distributed in the coremium, L-threonine and DL-isoleucine, and other essential amino acids; peptides were mainly distributed in the sclerotium of C. cicadae; and the rest of the amino acids did not have a clear pattern; sugars and sugar alcohols were mainly distributed in the coremium of C. cicadae; organic acids and fatty acids were distributed in the nucleus of C. cicadae more than in the sclerotium, and the mass spectrometry imaging method is established in the research. The mass spectrometry imaging method established in this study is simple and fast and can visualize and analyse the spatial distribution of metabolites of C. cicadae, which is of great significance in characterizing the metabolic network of C. cicadae, and provides support for the quality evaluation of C. cicadae and the study of the temporal and spatial metabolic network of chemical compounds.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank all members of the laboratory for helpful discussions and comments on the manuscript.

Funding

The authors acknowledge financial supports from the Key R&D projects in Sichuan Province (2023YFS0458), Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine School of Pharmacy/Modern Chinese Medicine Industry College Young Teachers Special (2022JJRC05).

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Author notes

  1. Mayijie Cao and Jie Wu are co first-authors.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Southwestern Chinese Medicine Resources, School of Pharmacy, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 1166 Liutai Avenue, Wenjiang District, Chengdu, Sichuan, China

    Mayijie Cao, Jie Wu, Xiaoli Zhu, Zhuolin Jia, Ye Zhou, Lingying Yu, Changjiang Hu & Zhimin Chen

  2. International Education College, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 1166 Liutai Avenue, Wenjiang District, Chengdu, Sichuan, China

    Yongxiang Gao

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  1. Mayijie Cao
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Contributions

Changjiang Hu, Yongxiang Gao, and Zhimin Chen are the corresponding authors of the study, and Zhinmin Chen contributed to the experimental design as well as the full-text English grammer and fluency guide. Mayijie Cao and Jie Wu are the first authors and responsible for collecting materials and writing the paper. Xiaoli Zhu, Zhuolin Jia, Ye Zhou, and Lingying Yu helped organize the information and edited it in the article table. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Cao, M., Wu, J., Zhu, X. et al. Tissue distribution of metabolites in Cordyceps cicadae determined by DESI-MSI analysis. Anal Bioanal Chem 416, 1883–1906 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-024-05188-x

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