ИСТИНА

In this report we propose a mass spectrometric patch-clamp equipment with the capillary performing both a local potential registration at the cell membrane and the analyte suction simultaneously. We performed a current literature analysis comparing the possibilities of the novel approach proposed with the known methods, such as scanning patch-clamp, scanning ion conductance microscopy, patch clamp based on scanning probe microscopy technology, quantitative subcellular secondary ion mass spectrometry or "ion microscopy", live single-cell mass spectrometry, in situ cell-by-cell imaging, single-cell video-mass spectrometry, etc. We also consider the ways to improve the informativeness of these methods and particularly emphasize the trend at the increasing of the analysis complexity. We propose here the way to improve the efficiency of the cell trapping to the capillary during MS-path-clamp, as well as to provide laser surface ionization using laser trapping and tweezing of cells with the laser beam transmitted through the capillary as a waveguide. It is shown that the combination of patch-clamp with the most suitable type of mass spectrometry, designed for the analysis of macromolecular and chiral samples, provides information about the activity of the ion channels and allows to study the chemistry of biomolecular processes at the cell membrane and near it. The idea of "MS-patch-clamp" in its current state is not only a research method, but a fundamental approach that can be extended to a large number of detection, ionization and desorption methods and various ways of the analyte supplying.