Fresh Frozen Versus Formalin-Fixed Paraffin Embedded for Mass Spectrometry Imaging

Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization (MALDI) Mass Spectrometry Imaging (MSI) is fast becoming an industry leading technique as a means of investigating the distributions of protein and peptide molecules directly from sections of tissue. Developing protocols for the analysis of FFPE tissue opens up numerous opportunities for novel biomarker discovery, due to the large number of tissue banks containing FFPE biopsy samples. This chapter reports the analysis of both fresh frozen and formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues using such protocols.