HistoSnap: A Novel Software Tool to Extract m/z-Specific Images from Large MSHC Datasets.

We describe an informatics tool for comfortable browsing through highly complex, multi-gigabyte mass spectrometry histochemistry (MSHC) datasets, via clever ion-specific image extraction.The package is developed particularly for the untargeted localization/discovery of biomolecules such as endogenous (neuro)secretory peptides on histological sections of biobanked formaldehyde-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) samples straight from tissue banks.Atmospheric pressure-MALDI-Orbitrap MSHC data of sections through human pituitary adenomas in which two well-known human neuropeptides are detected are used as an example to demonstrate the key features of the novel software, named HistoSnap.