Investigation of IDH-mutant Gliomas Metabolism by Mass Spectrometry Imaging (Application Note #MSI-16)

ImaBiotech investigated the metabolism of IDH-mutant gliomas by MALDI Mass Spectrometry Imaging (MALDI-MSI) to characterize the model and identify potential therapeutic targets. This work was performed on collected PDX (Patient-derived xenografts) with IDH wild type (IDHwt) and mutant (IDHm) tumors implemented in mouse cranium and grown until first appearance of neurologic signals before collection of the brains and sectioning. MALDI Mass Spectrometry Imaging correlated the expression of the IDH1 mutant or wild type versions through major molecular pathways with the histology of the tumor regions. The technique was even able to identify major differences in IDHm subtypes to highlight potential prognosis markers, particularly for the version with co-deleted genes 1p/19q with high CBS expression or overexpressed neurotransmitter NAAG. The imaging data also discriminated subregions in the tumors due to certain heterogeneity of molecular signals meaning that further investi-gation at higher spatial resolution would bring more details to the interactions between tumor cells and their environment.