Recently,
the parylene-matrix chip was developed for quantitative
analysis of small molecules less than 1 kDa. In this study, MALDI-TOF
MS based on the parylene-matrix chip was performed to clinically diagnose
intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (IHCC) and colorectal cancer (CRC).
The parylene-matrix chip was applied for the detection of small cancer
biomarkers, including N-methyl-2-pyridone-5-carboxamide
(2PY), glutamine, lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) 16:0, and LPC 18:0.
The feasibility of MALDI-TOF MS based on the parylene-matrix chip
was confirmed via analysis of spot-to-spot and shot-to-shot reproducibility.
Serum metabolite markers of IHCC, N-methyl-2-pyridone-5-carboxamide
(2PY), and glutamine were quantified using MALDI-TOF MS based on the
parylene-matrix chip. For clinical diagnosis of CRC, two water-insoluble
(barely soluble) biomarkers, lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) 16:0 and
LPC 18:0, were quantified. Finally, glutamine and LPC 16:0 were simultaneously
detected at a range of concentrations in sera from colon cancer patients
using the parylene-matrix chip. Thus, this method yielded high-throughput
detection of cancer biomarkers for the mixture samples of water-soluble
analytes (2PY and glutamine) and water-insoluble analytes (LPC 16:0
and LPC 18:0).