Reporting in Nature Communications, researchers from Northwestern University and University of California, San Diego used cross-correlative techniques using Hummingbird liquid cell TEM holder and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization imaging mass spectrometry (MALDI-IMS) to study the self-assembly of oligomeric peptides into nanostructures. The in-situ self-assembly process observed first in liquid cell was followed by ex-situ analyses using MALDI-IMS to verify that the nanostructures formed are indeed because of the same peptides, and not the artifacts induced by the electron beam. The researchers believe that utilizing such correlative techniques to evaluate damaging and non-damaging conditions are key to understanding some of the complex biological interaction on the nanoscale and their reaction products.

Reference: Mollie A. Touve, Andrea S. Carlini and Nathan C. Gianneschi. “Self-assembling peptides imaged by correlated liquid cell transmission electron microscopy and MALDI-imaging mass spectrometry,” Nature Communications (2019). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-12660-1

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