Lipidomics has emerged as a transformative tool for deciphering the complexity of lipid metabolism and its implications for health and disease. Advances in high-resolution mass spectrometry, ion mobility spectrometry, expert knowledge based curation, and computational workflows have significantly expanded our ability to characterize diverse lipid species with unprecedented accuracy. This lecture will explore recent breakthroughs in lipidomics, emphasizing their translational potential from fundamental research to clinical applications.
Recent studies have demonstrated the power of advanced lipidomics techniques in unveiling novel lipid species and their biological roles. For instance, UHPLC-ESI-QTOF-MS/MS has revealed previously unknown lipid species in hibernating Syrian hamsters, which could emulate Alzheimer’s, shedding light on metabolic adaptations during torpor (1).
To improve lipid identification accuracy, we developed a highly curated LC-MS lipidomics database for human plasma profiling, based on the NIST SRM 1950 standard (2). Expanding on this work, our latest study integrates electron impact excitation of ions from organics (EIEIO) MS/MS, enabling the unambiguous determination of carbon-carbon double bond (C=C) positions in unsaturated lipids (3). We have further extended our research to respiratory diseases with LiLA (Lipid Lung-based ATLAS), a specialized lipid annotation resource designed to improve the characterization of lung lipids (4).
Additionally, our lipidomics workflow has been instrumental in mapping oxylipin profiles in mouse brain tissue, revealing novel bioactive lipid mediators involved in neuroinflammatory pathways (5).
By integrating these cutting-edge analytical methodologies with systems biology and multi-omics strategies, lipidomics is transitioning from a fundamental research discipline to a cornerstone of precision medicine. This talk will highlight the challenges and future directions of lipidomics, emphasizing its role in understanding disease mechanisms, developing diagnostic tools, and guiding therapeutic interventions.
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