One-cell analysis as a technique for true single-cell analysis of organelles in breast tumor and adjacent normal tissue to profile fatty acid composition of triglyceride species

Breast cancer develops in an adipose rich environment of normal adipocytes that are known to aid in tumor progression through an unknown method of lipid transfer from normal cells to tumor cells. Much research is built around lipid analysis of breast tumor and adjacent normal tissues to identify variations in the lipidome to gain an understanding of the role lipids play in progressing cancer. Ideally, single-cell analysis methods coupled to mass spectrometry that retain spatial information are best suited for this endeavor. However, many single-cell analysis methods are not capable of subcellular analysis of intact lipids while maintaining spatial information. One-Cell analysis is a true single-cell technique with the precision to extract single organelles from intact tissues while not interfering or disrupting adjacent cells. This method is used to extract and analyze single organelles from individual cells using nanomanipulation coupled to nanoelectrospray ionization mass spectrometry. Presented here is a demonstration of the analysis of single lipid bodies from two different sets of breast tumor and normal adjacent tissues to elucidate the fatty acid composition of triglycerides using One-Cell analysis coupled to tandem mass spectrometry. As a result, thirteen fatty acid species unique to the tumor tissues were identified, five in one set of tissues and eight in the other set.