Figure 1.

Pipeline of mass spectrometry (MS) and microscopic quantitative imaging for lipidomic analysis (a) In MS-based techniques, lipid is extracted from bulk cells. Extracted lipid can be separated using a gas/liquid chromatographic column before mass spectrometric detection, or directly infused in mass spectrometer for untargeted detection. (b) In quantitative imaging-based techniques, multiple live cells in the field of view are first imaged non-destructively to generate a lipid-specific contrast. The image is then computationally analyzed to segment cells and quantify properties of subcellular lipid droplets on the single-cell level.