Direct Metabolic Profiling of Biofluids via Wimshurst Machine–Nanoelectrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry

Rationale

Direct metabolic analysis is crucial for understanding the mechanisms of various diseases. However, it is still difficult to perform direct metabolic analysis of native biofluids for many biological sample types because conventional workflows often necessitate extensive sample pretreatment to mitigate matrix interference from high salt concentrations.

Methods

In this study, we developed a novel approach using a Wimshurst Machine–nanoelectrospray ionization (WM-nanoESI) system for direct metabolic analysis of native biofluids. This device achieves direct metabolic analysis due to its sampling method (injecting biofluid directly into nanoESI emitters with an orifice diameter of approximately 10 μm) and the adaptive electricity provided by the Wimshurst machine (preventing tip clogging and extending duration time).

Results

This method enables qualitative analysis of drugs and metabolites, prevents tip clogging when analyzing PBS and serum, and extends the duration time by approximately 15-fold longer than traditional DC nanoESI does. HeLa and MCF-7 cells were distinguished according to their metabolic profiles.

Conclusions

Our results indicate that the WM-nanoESI will offer significant advancements for real-time metabolic monitoring, boost disease understanding, and therapeutic monitoring.