Any service offered by the core begins with a consultation with the core director at no cost to the investigator. This consultation service includes discussion on planning of the experiments, sample collection, processing, and storage strategies, analytical requirements, expected outcomes, potential pitfalls, and an estimate of the costs.

Please review the list of Frequently Asked Questions to help you guide your analytical needs.

The following services are chargeable to the investigators:

Service:

Sample Preparation

Both Shotgun and LC-MS analysis of biological samples for lipids requires extraction and reconstitution in the solvent system suitable for analysis.

Qualitative LC-MS or Shotgun lipid profiling

Evaluation of changing lipid profiles in samples collected under different conditions requires the establishment of the profile. This may involve the establishment of known lipid metabolite profile or identification of novel lipid metabolites, or a combination of both. This service is central to all discovery work.

Quantitative analysis of lipids

This generally involves targeted lipid analysis. Once a lipid profile is established, different samples can be compared to ascertain quantitative changes in the target lipids. For example, the entire range of prostaglandins and their metabolites (more than 150) can be quantitatively compared between normal, pre-malignant, and neoplastic tissue specimens. Alternatively, a single enzymatic product such as 12(S)-HETE or a combination of different pathway metabolites can quantitatively compared. Lipid classes currently analyzed: Fatty acyl lipids (includes monohydroxy fatty acids, oxo fatty acids, epoxy fatty acids and their corresponding dihydroxy products, trihydroxy fatty acids (including lipoxins and resolvins), leukotrienes (including peptido leukotrienes), prostaglandins, thromboxanes, and their metabolites), sphingolipids, glycerophospholipids, glycerolipids, sterol lipids, and prenol lipids. However, there is no limit to the classes of lipids that can be quantified by the core.

LC-MS method development

Methods are already in place for the detection and quantification of most lipids listed above. However, sample-specific and/or any novel metabolite-specific methods require developmental work.

Data analysis

Analysis and presentation of both qualitative and quantitative LC-MS data in the form easily understandable to the investigator as well as interpretation assistance, where necessary.

Please refer to the lipid classification at LipidClases