Mass spectrometry imaging of L-[ring-13C6]-labeled phenylalanine and tyrosine kinetics in non-small cell lung carcinoma.
Jianhua CaoBenjamin BalluffMartijn ArtsLudwig J DuboisLuc J C van LoonTilman M HackengHans M H van EijkGert EijkelLara R HeijZita SoonsSteven W M Olde DaminkRon M A HeerenPublished in: Cancer & metabolism (2021)
We demonstrated the spatiotemporal intra-tumoral distribution of the essential aromatic amino acid 13C6-Phe and its de-novo synthesized metabolite 13C6-Tyr by MALDI-FTICR-MSI. Our results explore for the first time local phenylalanine metabolism in the context of cancer tissue morphology. This opens a new way to understand amino acid metabolism within the tumor and its microenvironment.