News

Symposium on Mass Spectrometry Imaging

Daan Touw and Peter Horvatovich

Department of Analytical Biochemistry (GRIP) and Clinical Pharmaceutical and Toxicological Laboratory (UMCG)

Date: December 18, 2025

Time: 13.00 – 17.30

Location: Marten Hofker hall (Eriba 3rd floor), Ant. Deusinglaan 1, 9713AV Groningen

Topic

The University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG) and Faculty of Science and Engineering (FSE) have invested in a state-of-the-art mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) platform to push the boundaries of spatial biology. The platform features the Bruker timsTOF Flex MALDI-2, which integrates trapped ion mobility spectrometry (TIMS), MALDI-2 postionization, and microgrid technology to achieve 5 µm spatial resolution for imaging metabolites, drugs, lipids, and proteins in tissue sections. Complementing this, a MassTech atmospheric pressure MALDI ion source is compatible with the Orbitrap Exploris series, providing ultra-high mass resolution (up to 500,000) and 10 µm spatial resolution.

The TIMS capability of the timsTOF Flex resolves isobaric interferences, enabling precise separation of complex molecular species, including post-translational modifications and lipid isomers, while the Orbitrap ensures high-confidence molecular identification. Enhanced by MALDI-2, the platform improves sensitivity for low-abundance metabolites and resolves structural isomers, revealing deeper biological complexity.

This investment places UMCG and FSE at the forefront of spatial omics, enabling breakthroughs in biomedical research and molecular diagnostics. The platform will drive innovations in understanding tissue organization, disease pathology, and therapeutic development. The upcoming symposium will explore potential collaborations and research opportunities using this advanced MSI technology.

Program

13:00 – 13:05 Introduction (Daan Touw, UMCG)

13:05 – 13:45 Keynote: Seeing Metabolism in Place: The Promise and Perils of

Spatial Metabolomics (Martin Giera, LUMC)

13:45 – 14:30 The Bruker timsTOF Flex mass spectrometry imaging platform and

clinical applications (Bram Heijs, Bruker)

14:30 – 15:00 Coffee break

15:00 – 15:25 MSI infrastructure at UMCG/FSE, application area and collaboration

options (Peter Horvatovich, GRIP)

15:25 – 16:10 Roundtable discussion in MSI technology and applications

16:10 – 16:40 Labtour

16:40 – 17:30 Drinks

Abstract of Keynote lecture (Martin Giera, LUMC)

Understanding metabolism requires more than quantifying molecules, it demands knowing where they act and how they travel through space and time. Using our work on DHCR24 inhibition as a starting point, I will demonstrate how spatial and single-cell analyses can illuminate biochemical processes that are invisible in bulk measurements. We will then move from concept to technology, exploring how spatial lipidomics bridges analytical chemistry, imaging, and systems biology. Yet, as powerful as these approaches are, they come with challenges: sample handling, ionization bias, in-source fragments and data interpretation can all distort the metabolic landscape we think we see. This lecture will trace both, the advances and the pitfalls of spatial lipidomics, outlining strategies toward a truly quantitative, spatially resolved understanding of lipid metabolism in health and disease.