Spectroimmunohistochemistry: a novel form of MALDI mass spectrometry imaging coupled to immunohistochemistry for tracking antibodies.

MALDI mass spectrometry imaging (MALDI-MSI) is currently used for clinical applications, such as biomarker identification, particularly for the study of solid tumors. The ability to map specific compounds that have been determined to be biomarkers and therapeutic targets is relevant for the evaluation of the efficacy of targeted therapies. This article describes a new method called Spectro-ImmunoHistoChemistry (SIHC), which combines the use of specific antibodies against markers and mass spectrometric imaging in the MS/MS mode. SIHC is based on direct primary antibody-antigen recognition, trypsin digestion of the antibody overlaying the markers of interest in the tissue section, and MALDI-MSI of the tryptic peptides generated from the antibody. This approach has both clinical and pharmacological applications. First, it can be used as a cross-validation method to monitor the presence specifically of a marker in a tissue section. Second, SIHC could potentially be used as a novel technology for tracking specific antibodies after in vivo injection for anti-cancer treatments. Additionally, SIHC could enable novel clinical applications of MSI, such as monitoring the efficacy of cytotoxic antibody treatments.