A step-change in the utility of elemental imaging in the biological sciences can be achieved by the integration of quantitative elemental distributions with structural information, allowing novel insights into how tissue development is associated with a dynamic chemical environment. To demonstrate this potential, here we construct a 3D correlative map of biometal distribution and skeletal growth for the first time in a complex organism – in a mouse embryo at developmental stage E14. We achieved this by registering laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) data to micro-computerized tomography (μCT) imagery using endogenous fiducial markers. LA-ICP-MS compositional maps of Rb were used as fiducial markers of dense regions in the micro-CT dataset (e.g. skeletal structure). Results of image registration showed high spatial correlation between both datasets which improved with increasing contrast of the micro-CT images. When coupled with recent advances in analytical instrumentation promoting rapid LA-ICP-MS scanning, this technique promises an enhanced understanding of development in complex biological systems without the need for chemical pre-treatment.

中文翻译：

---

使用LA-ICP-MS结合X射线断层摄影术为大型生物标本构建3D天然元素图

通过将定量的元素分布与结构信息相结合，可以实现生物科学中元素成像实用性的逐步变化，从而获得有关组织发育与动态化学环境的关系的新颖见解。为了展示这种潜力，在这里我们首次在复杂生物体中-在发育阶段E14的小鼠胚胎中构建生物金属分布和骨骼生长的3D相关图。我们通过使用内生基准标记将激光烧蚀-电感耦合等离子体质谱（LA-ICP-MS）数据记录到微型计算机断层扫描（μCT）图像中，从而实现了这一目标。Rb的LA-ICP-MS组成图被用作micro-CT数据集中密集区域的基准标记（例如骨骼结构）。图像配准的结果显示两个数据集之间的高度空间相关性，随着微CT图像对比度的提高而改善。结合可促进快速LA-ICP-MS扫描的分析仪器的最新进展，该技术有望在不需要化学预处理的情况下加深对复杂生物系统发展的了解。