Spatial metabolomics is a cutting-edge technology that combines metabolomics with imaging techniques to map the spatial distribution of metabolites within biological samples. It enables qualitative, quantitative and localization analysis of thousands of metabolites in biological tissues.

Spatial metabolomics offers detailed, spatially resolved metabolic information, which is essential for understanding localized metabolic processes and heterogeneity within tissues. Bulk metabolomics, on the other hand, provides a broad, averaged overview of metabolites across a homogenized sample, making it suitable for general metabolic profiling without spatial context. The key difference in experimental procedures is that spatial metabolomics involves freezing and sectioning the sample, applying a specific matrix, and then performing mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) for analysis. In contrast, bulk metabolomics requires homogenizing fresh samples, extracting metabolites, and analyzing them using LC-MS.

We offer spatial resolutions of 5 μm, 10 μm, 20 μm, 50 μm, and 100 μm, depending on the specific requirements of the analysis.

The resolution should be chosen based on the sample type, the spatial heterogeneity of the metabolites, and the desired level of detail for analysis. For large or heterogeneous samples (e.g., organs), lower resolutions (100 µm to 50 µm) are typically sufficient to observe broad metabolite distributions, while higher resolutions (10 µm to 5 µm) are necessary for smaller, more homogeneous samples (e.g., cellular or subcellular structures) to capture finer details. If metabolites are widely distributed, a lower resolution is adequate, but if they are localized to small regions (e.g., organelles or specific cell types), a higher resolution provides better visualization of spatial heterogeneity.

• 100 µm: Suitable for large tissue sections or general metabolite distribution mapping.
• 50 µm: Provides a good balance between resolution and data volume for tissues or larger regions of interest.
• 20 µm: Used for more detailed mapping of tissue microstructures.
• 10 µm or 5 µm: High-resolution imaging for single cells or specific subcellular structures.

Our spatial metabolomics service can detect over 1,000 metabolites on average, with variations based on the sample type and experimental conditions. In our previous projects, we successfully detected over 1,900 metabolites in mouse spleen and more than 2,000 metabolites in soybean.