Tissue and Cell Samples by HRMAS NMR

Abstract

The solid-state NMR line-narrowing technique termed magic-angle spinning (MAS) has been well known to chemists and physicists since the mid-twentieth century, but has only recently been applied to the measurement of proton NMR signals from biological tissue and cell samples. Previously, proton NMR measurements of tissue and cell samples were performed through conventional liquid-state NMR, resulting in broad-line spectra and destruction of the tissue. High-resolution MAS (HRMAS) NMR permits intact tissue analysis where high-resolution proton NMR measurements of tissue samples can be acquired while preserving architectural structures, thus allowing subsequent histopathological analysis on the same tissue. Since this discovery, the methodology has provided the driving force for many studies designed to investigate human physiology and pathology, animal models of human diseases, and intact cells through the evaluation of tissue specimens. Specifically in the study of human malignancy, the application of metabolomics has become an especially active area of research. After further developments in both imaging technology and the characterization of metabolic profiles, it seems likely that clinical implementation will occur, either in the identification of metabolomic pathology or for in vivo disease characterization. Keywords: proton NMR; high-resolution magic angle spinning (HRMAS); magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS); magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); tissue histopathology; human malignancy; disease diagnosis; metabolomics