Issue 12, 2014

Review of the applications of laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) to the analysis of biological samples

Abstract

Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) has received significant attention over the last 10 years and has been widely used for the analysis of biological samples. The technique allows the determination of elements and isotopes in biological tissues and related materials with a spatial resolution typically ranging from 10 to 100 μm. When compared to other techniques usually employed to obtain bioimages, the greater advantage of LA-ICP-MS is its higher sensitivity. The literature survey over the last 10 years concerning the use of LA-ICP-MS for biological tissue analysis is reviewed in this article. Instrumentation, strategies of calibration for quantitative analysis, challenges and recent advances in this field are discussed. Applications of the isotope ratio (IR), including tracer experiments, and isotope dilution (ID), are reviewed for biological samples (briefly for proteins, in order to show the utility of LA-ICP-MS). Bioimaging methods, studies and applications for animal and plants tissues are emphasized, demonstrating the importance of bioimaging of metals and metalloids in biomedical research, bioaccumulation and bioavailability studies for ecological and toxicological risk assessment in humans, animals and plants. The usefulness of the IR associated with bioimaging for predicting geographical origin, habitat, movement of subjects, diet and lifestyle are also demonstrated.

Graphical abstract: Review of the applications of laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) to the analysis of biological samples

Article information

Article type
Critical Review
Submitted
27 Jul 2014
Accepted
05 Sep 2014
First published
05 Sep 2014

J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 2014,29, 2204-2228

Author version available

Review of the applications of laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) to the analysis of biological samples

D. Pozebon, G. L. Scheffler, V. L. Dressler and M. A. G. Nunes, J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 2014, 29, 2204 DOI: 10.1039/C4JA00250D

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements