Imaging of Subcellular Distribution of Platinum in Single Cells Using Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry

Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) is a well-established and sensitive analytical technique, which provides high-resolution imaging of endogenous elements, element tagged-markers, metal-containing nanoparticles, and metallodrugs within cells. Here we describe a protocol for imaging the subcellular distribution of platinum within A549 cells, following their incubation with the platinum-based anticancer agent, Oxaliplatin. We outline the essential steps in sample preparation and instrumental setup and discuss how the current generation of low-dispersion instruments facilitates new approaches to data acquisition and image processing. The protocol described herein can be easily adapted for other cell lines and metal-containing labeling agents.