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药用植物空间代谢组学研究进展

来源：花匠小妙招时间：2026-02-06 16:04

摘要：

质谱成像技术是一种新型分子成像技术，具有免标记、高覆盖、高灵敏度等优势，广泛应用于代谢物的组织分布研究。随着该技术的不断发展，基于质谱成像的空间代谢组学技术应运而生，该技术将质谱成像与代谢组学深度融合，能够同时实现组织中代谢物的空间定位与成像分析，研究对象涵盖动物、植物、微生物等。近年来，空间代谢组学技术在药用植物研究中展现出巨大的应用潜力，成为精准定位组织中代谢物空间分布的关键技术之一。本文首先介绍了空间代谢组学技术的基本原理和实验流程，比较了基质辅助激光解吸电离质谱成像（MALDI-MSI）、解吸电喷雾电离质谱成像（DESI-MSI）和二次离子质谱成像（SIMS-MSI）等主流质谱成像技术的特长与局限性，以及样本制备与数据处理等关键环节的技术要点。重点综述了空间代谢组学技术在药用植物研究中的应用进展，包括如何应用空间代谢组学技术揭示药用植物代谢产物组织分布与累积规律，助力药用植物代谢产物的生物合成与转运机制解析及其生物合成相关功能基因的挖掘。最后探讨了空间代谢组学技术目前面临的挑战与未来发展的方向，以期为药用植物研究提供全新的研究视角。

关键词: 空间代谢组学, 质谱成像, 药用植物, 代谢产物, 生物合成

Abstract:

Mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) is an innovative molecular imaging technique offering significant advantages, including label-free analysis, high molecular coverage, and exceptional sensitivity. MSI has been widely used in studies on the spatial distribution of metabolites in tissues. The continuous advancement of this technique has brought spatial metabolomics, a methodology that integrates MSI with metabolomics. This approach allows for simultaneous localization and imaging analysis of metabolites in tissues across diverse biological samples, encompassing animals, plants, and microorganisms. Recently, spatial metabolomics has demonstrated great potential in medicinal plant research as a crucial technique for precise spatial localization of metabolites in tissues. This review first presents the basic principles and experimental procedures of spatial metabolomics, followed by comparisons of several major MSI techniques, including matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry imaging (MALDI-MSI), desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry imaging (DESI-MSI), and secondary ion mass spectrometry imaging (SIMS-MSI), where distinctive advantages and limitations of each approach are delineated, as well as key aspects in sample preparation and data processing are addressed. The review subsequently focuses on the applications of spatial metabolomics in medicinal plants, including visualizing the spatial distribution and accumulation pattern of metabolites, clarifying the biosynthesis and transport sites of metabolites, and discovering functional genes associated with biosynthetic pathways in medicinal plants. Finally, this review discusses the current challenges and prospects of spatial metabolomics, aiming to provide a new perspective for investigations in medicinal plant research.

Key words: spatial metabolomics, mass spectrometry imaging, medicinal plants, metabolites, biosynthesis