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Capabilities and Drawbacks of Phospholipid Analysis by MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry

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Lipidomics

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 579))

Summary

The important roles of lipids particularly certain phospholipids in signal transduction processes and as important disease markers are becoming increasingly evident. Unfortunately, however, sensitive methods of lipid analysis are established to a much lesser extent than, e.g., methods of protein analysis. Mass spectrometry (MS) is an increasingly used technique of lipid analysis and electrospray ionization (ESI) MS is the so far most established ionization method. Although matrix-assisted laser desorption and ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) was so far primarily used for protein analysis, however, this method has itself proven to be very useful in the field of lipid analysis, too.

This chapter gives an overview of methodological aspects of MALDI-TOF MS in lipid research and summarizes the specific advantages and drawbacks of this soft-ionization method. In particular, suppression effects of some lipid classes, especially those with quaternary ammonia groups such as phosphatidylcholine, will be highlighted and possible ways to overcome this problem (use of different matrices, separation of the relevant lipid mixture prior to analysis) will be discussed on the example of an organic liver extract.

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Abbreviations

APCI:

Atmospheric Pressure Chemical Ionization

DE:

Delayed Extraction

DHB:

2,5-Dihydroxybenzoic Acid

EI:

Electron Impact

ESI:

Electrospray Ionisation

HPLC:

High-Performance Liquid Chromatography

IR:

Infrared

LPC:

Lyso-Phosphatidylcholine

MALDI:

Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption and Ionization

MS:

Mass Spectrometry

m/z:

mass over charge

PC:

Phosphatidylcholine

PE:

Phosphatidylethanolamine

PG:

Phosphatidylglycerol

PI:

Phosphatidylinositol

PL:

Phospholipid

PNA:

Para-Nitroaniline

PO:

Palmitoyl-oleoyl-

PS:

Phosphatidylserine

PSD:

Post Source Decay

rpm:

rotations per minute

S/N :

Signal to Noise

SM:

Sphingomyelin

sn :

Stereospecific Numbering

TFA:

Trifluoroacetic Acid

TLC:

Thin-Layer Chromatography

TOF:

Time-of-Flight

UV:

Ultraviolet

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the German Research Council (DFG Schi 476/5–1 and FU 771/1-1) and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Grant BMBF 0313836). The kind and helpful advice of Dr. Suckau and Dr. Schürenberg (Bruker Daltonics, Bremen) is particularly gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Medical Department, Institute of Medical Physics and Biophysics, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany

    Beate Fuchs, Ariane Nimptsch & Rosmarie Süß

  2. University of Leipzig Medical Faculty, Leipzig, Germany

    Jürgen Schiller

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  1. Beate Fuchs
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  2. Ariane Nimptsch
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  3. Rosmarie Süß
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  4. Jürgen Schiller
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Golden Leaf Rd. 215, Mars Hill, 28754, U.S.A.

    Donald Armstrong

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Fuchs, B., Nimptsch, A., Süß, R., Schiller, J. (2009). Capabilities and Drawbacks of Phospholipid Analysis by MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry. In: Armstrong, D. (eds) Lipidomics. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 579. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60761-322-0_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60761-322-0_6

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