Glycine is an important amino acid in the central nervous system. The aberrant conditions of glycine concentrations cause sever neurological disorders, such as nonketotic-hyperglycinemia (NKH), also known as glycine encephalopathy. Therefore, a better understanding of its relative abundance and distribution in the developing and adult brains would provide insights into the pathogeneses of this kind of disorders. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry (MS) imaging has been used for direct molecular-specific compound detection, distribution mapping, and identifying molecular species in tissue sections. Although a few reports have already shown the imaging of glycine using MALDI-MS in the adult mouse brain, they lack detailed neuroanatomical and developmental evaluations. We, thus, investigated the detailed distribution and abundance of glycine not only in the adult mouse brain but also in the developing mouse brain using this technique. In both brains, we detected derivatized glycine throughout the mouse brain. Interestingly, in both brains, derivatized glycine was abundantly detected in the brain stem. The other areas showed relatively lower signal intensities. As many model mice are used for glycine-related diseases, MALDI-MS is a suitable technique to analyze the pathogenesis of these diseases.

中文翻译：

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质谱成像揭示发育中和成年小鼠大脑中的甘氨酸分布

甘氨酸是中枢神经系统中一种重要的氨基酸。甘氨酸浓度的异常状况会导致严重的神经系统疾病，例如非酮症高甘氨酸血症 (NKH)，也称为甘氨酸脑病。因此，更好地了解其在发育中和成人大脑中的相对丰度和分布将有助于深入了解这种疾病的发病机制。基质辅助激光解吸/电离 (MALDI) 质谱 (MS) 成像已用于直接分子特异性化合物检测、分布图和识别组织切片中的分子种类。尽管一些报告已经显示了在成年小鼠大脑中使用 MALDI-MS 对甘氨酸进行成像，但它们缺乏详细的神经解剖学和发育评估。我们，因此，使用该技术不仅在成年小鼠大脑中，而且在发育中的小鼠大脑中研究了甘氨酸的详细分布和丰度。在两个大脑中，我们在整个小鼠大脑中检测到衍生化甘氨酸。有趣的是，在两个大脑中，在脑干中都检测到大量衍生的甘氨酸。其他区域显示相对较低的信号强度。由于许多模型小鼠被用于与甘氨酸相关的疾病，MALDI-MS 是分析这些疾病发病机制的合适技术。其他区域显示相对较低的信号强度。由于许多模型小鼠被用于与甘氨酸相关的疾病，MALDI-MS 是分析这些疾病发病机制的合适技术。其他区域显示相对较低的信号强度。由于许多模型小鼠被用于与甘氨酸相关的疾病，MALDI-MS 是分析这些疾病发病机制的合适技术。