AUTHOR=Kruse Angela R. S. , Spraggins Jeffrey M. TITLE=Uncovering Molecular Heterogeneity in the Kidney With Spatially Targeted Mass Spectrometry JOURNAL=Frontiers in Physiology VOLUME=13 YEAR=2022 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physiology/articles/10.3389/fphys.2022.837773 DOI=10.3389/fphys.2022.837773 ISSN=1664-042X ABSTRACT=
The kidney functions through the coordination of approximately one million multifunctional nephrons in 3-dimensional space. Molecular understanding of the kidney has relied on transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomic analyses of kidney homogenate, but these approaches do not resolve cellular identity and spatial context. Mass spectrometry analysis of isolated cells retains cellular identity but not information regarding its cellular neighborhood and extracellular matrix. Spatially targeted mass spectrometry is uniquely suited to molecularly characterize kidney tissue while retaining