Bruker introduced the timsTOF fleX™ mass spectrometer, which includes a software-switchable MALDI source adapted to the ESI timsTOF Pro™platform. This new, combined ESI/MALDI capability enables spatially-resolved omics (SpatialOMx™) on a single instrument. The timsTOF fleX comes with Bruker’s proprietary 10 kHz SmartBeamTM 3D laser with true pixel fidelity for rapid, label-free MALDI imaging at high-spatial resolution, while preserving the 4D proteomics and phenomics sensitivity of the timsTOF Pro in ESI mode. With this SpatialOMx approach, researchers gain insights into spatial molecular distributions in tissues from MALDI imaging, to guide 4D omics molecular expression studies, e.g. on proteins, low-level cancer antigen peptides, lipids, glycans, metabolites or xenobiotics, which cannot be observed by traditional staining or labelling techniques. MALDI-guided SpatialOMx allows for specific targeting of cell sub-populations for subsequent ESI-TIMS/PASEF-based dda or dia 4D proteomics or 4D lipidomics/metabolomics.
