Comprehensive analysis of lipids in biological systems by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry

• Published in: TrAC, Trends in analytical chemistry (Regular ed.) Vol. 61; pp. 192 - 206
• Main Authors: Cajka, Tomas, Fiehn, Oliver
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 01.10.2014
• Subjects: Acylglycerol; Biological system; ceramides; chloroform; Comprehensive analysis; Extraction method; Global lipidomic profiling; ionization; LC-MS; Lipidomics; liquid chromatography; Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry; mass spectrometry; Metabolomics; methanol; particle size; phosphatidylcholines; phosphatidylethanolamines; phosphatidylglycerols; phosphatidylinositols; phosphatidylserines; Phospholipid; sphingomyelins; triacylglycerols; DG; PC(O); SPE; GM3; MTBE; QqQ; HRMS; BuOH; RPLC; MG; UHPLC; QTOF; NPLC; (L)PS; CID; QLIT; HCD; PC(P); Lipidomics; TOF; IT; DCM; Biological system; Cer; 2D-LC; Comprehensive analysis; MeOH; SIM; Acylglycerol; FWHM; LacCer; MGDG; FA; NARPLC; DDA; Metabolomics; LLE; IM-MS; SQDG; Phospholipid; MRM; APCI; FT-ICR; SFC; DGDG; ESI; SM; Global lipidomic profiling; DIA; HILIC; HPLC; (L)PA; CE; Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry; CL; (L)PG; ACN; (L)PE; (L)PC; NMR; LC-MS; TG; LPC(O); HexCer; Extraction method; PI
• ISSN: 0165-9936; 1879-3142
• DOI: 10.1016/j.trac.2014.04.017

•State of the art in LC-MS-based lipidomics.•Sample extraction, separation, ionization and detection in LC-MS-based lipidomics.•Data processing, lipid identification/quantification, quality control in lipidomics.•Highlights of recent lipidomics studies. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS)-based lipidomics has undergone dramatic developments over the past decade. This review focuses on state of the art in LC-MS-based lipidomics, covering all the steps of global lipidomic profiling. By reviewing 185 original papers and application notes, we can conclude that current advanced LC-MS-based lipidomics methods involve: (1)lipid extraction schemes using chloroform/MeOH or methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE)/MeOH, both with addition of internal standards covering each lipid class;(2)LC separation of lipids using short microbore C18 or C8 columns with sub-2-µm or 2.6–2.8-µm (fused-core) particle size with analysis time <30 min;(3)electrospray ionization in positive- and negative-ion modes with full spectra acquisition using high-resolution MS with capability to MS/MS. Phospholipids (phosphatidylcholines, phosphatidylethanolamines, phosphatidylinositols, phosphatidylserines, phosphatidylglycerols) followed by sphingomyelins, di- and tri-acylglycerols, and ceramides were the most frequently targeted lipid species.