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SphinGOMAP: Lipidomic analysis of [glyco]sphingolipid metabolism
Author(s) -
Merrill Alfred Harrison
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.20.5.a1472-a
Subject(s) - sphingolipid , glycomics , biochemistry , computational biology , chemistry , lipidomics , tandem mass spectrometry , biology , bioinformatics , mass spectrometry , chromatography , proteomics , gene
Sphingolipids are among the most structurally complex and diverse components of eukaryotic cells ( www.sphingomap.org ), and have heretofore been difficult to study because the methods for their analysis have been relatively laborious and insensitive. These technical limitations are disappearing with the development of liquid chromatography‐tandem mass spectrometric methods that allow hundreds (to thousands) of compounds to be analyzed quantitatively to provide a “sphingolipidomic” profile of cells. Mass spectrometry can also provide information about pathway dynamics by using stable isotope precursors such as [ 13 C]‐acetate or ‐palmitate, which are incorporated into the fatty acyl‐CoA's that are used for the sphingoid base backbone and amide‐linked fatty acid. These analyses generate tremendous amounts of data, therefore, new methods of data analysis and visualization are critical. Use of these tools is producing a more comprehensive picture of sphingolipid metabolism and many surprises about the pathways, the partitioning of intermediates, and how diverse factors—from agonists, toxins and pharmaceuticals to development and disease‐‐affect sphingolipid metabolism. The work that will be discussed has been conducted in collaboration with M. Cameron Sullards, May Dongmei Wang and others as well as in conjunction with the LIPID MAPS Consortium and the NCRR Integrated Technology Resource for Biomedical Glycomics.