Mass spectrometer with MALDI2 and ESI ion source, Laser Capture Microdissection device

• Subject Area: Microbiology, Virology and Immunology
• Term: Funded in 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 504501554

Imaging modalities have the potential to decipher the distribution of immune cells and the local microenvironment in tissues. The registration of imaging datasets could be the key to comprehensively unravelling the cell and tissue specific mechanisms in inflammatory processes in the future. At IMCES, state-of-the-art microscopes are already being used to determine the distribution of immune cells. By establishing local mass spectrometry in the context of this large-scale equipment application, it will be possible not only to determine the distribution of immune cells in tissues, but also to register these distribution patterns with the local proteome. Thus, novel insights of the local molecular mechanisms that mediate leukocyte infiltration and inflammatory conditions in diseases will be provided. The selection of project leaders with complementary expertise in immunology, infectious diseases, neurology, cancer and endocrinology will allow unraveling disease-, organ-, and cell-specific mechanisms in various diseases. The corresponding research topics are currently being addressed by the project leaders in existing and proposed DFG consortia and represent the current research focus of the Medical Faculty of the University of Duisburg-Essen. The expansion of the imaging capabilities in Essen via local mass spectrometry represents a consistent further development of state-of-the-art imaging modalities at IMCES.

• DFG Programme: Major Research Instrumentation
• Major Instrumentation: Massenspektrometer mit MALDI- und ESI-Quelle
• Instrumentation Group: 1700 Massenspektrometer
• Applicant Institution: Universität Duisburg-Essen
• Leader: Professor Dr. Daniel Robert Engel