Mass spectrometry coupled to imaging techniques: The better the view the greater the challenge

These are definitively exciting times for membrane lipid researchers. Once considered just as the cell membrane building blocks, the important role these lipids play is steadily being acknowledged. The improvement occurred in mass spectrometry techniques (MS) allows the establishment of the precise...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Barceló Coblijn, Gwendolyn, Fernández González, José Andrés
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2015
País:España
Institución:Universidad del País Vasco
Repositorio:Addi. Archivo Digital para la Docencia y la Investigación
OAI Identifier:oai:addi.ehu.eus:10810/16140
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10810/16140
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:electrospray mass spectrometry
human
image quality
imaging and display
limit of detection
lipid analysis
lipid composition
lipid oxidation
matrix assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight mass spectrometry
measurement accuracy
molecular stability
reproducibility
sensitivity and specificity
spatial resolution
tandem mass spectrometry
PHYSIOLOGY
PHYSIOLOGY (MEDICAL)
Descripción
Sumario:These are definitively exciting times for membrane lipid researchers. Once considered just as the cell membrane building blocks, the important role these lipids play is steadily being acknowledged. The improvement occurred in mass spectrometry techniques (MS) allows the establishment of the precise lipid composition of biological extracts. However, to fully understand the biological function of each individual lipid species, we need to know its spatial distribution and dynamics. In the past 10 years, the field has experienced a profound revolution thanks to the development of MS-based techniques allowing lipid imaging (MSI). Images reveal and verify what many lipid researchers had already shown by different means, but none as convincing as an image: each cell type presents a specific lipid composition, which is highly sensitive to its physiological and pathological state. While these techniques will help to place membrane lipids in the position they deserve, they also open the black box containing all the unknown regulatory mechanisms accounting for such tailored lipid composition. Thus, these results urges to different disciplines to redefine their paradigm of study by including the complexity revealed by the MSI techniques.