title: Ambient ionisation mass spectrometry for lipid profiling and structural analysis of mammalian oocytes, preimplantation embryos and stem cells.
abstract: Lipids play fundamental roles in mammalian embryo preimplantation development and cell fate. Triacylglycerol accumulates in oocytes and blastomeres as lipid droplets, phospholipids influence membrane functional properties, and essential fatty acid metabolism is important for maintaining the stemness of cells cultured in vitro. The growing impact that lipids have in the field of developmental biology makes analytical approaches to analyse structural information of great interest. This paper describes the concept and presents the results of lipid profiling by mass spectrometry (MS) of oocytes and preimplantation embryos, with special focus on ambient ionisation. Based on our previous experience with oocytes and embryos, we aim to convey that ambient MS is also valuable for stem cell differentiation analysis. Ambient ionisation MS allows the detection of a wide range of lipid classes (e.g. free fatty acids, cholesterol esters, phospholipids) in single oocytes, embryos and cell pellets, which are informative of in vitro culture impact, developmental and differentiation stages. Background on MS principles, the importance of underused MS scan modes for structural analysis of lipids, and statistical approaches used for data analysis are covered. We envisage that MS alone or in combination with other techniques will have a profound impact on the understanding of lipid metabolism, particularly in early embryo development and cell differentiation research.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Center for Analytical Instrumentation Development, Purdue University, 207 South Martin Jischke Drive, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA.
authors.forename: Christina R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Center for Analytical Instrumentation Development, Purdue University, 207 South Martin Jischke Drive, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA.
authors.forename: Alan K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Jarmusch
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Center for Analytical Instrumentation Development, Purdue University, 207 South Martin Jischke Drive, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA.
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Pirro
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Center for Analytical Instrumentation Development, Purdue University, 207 South Martin Jischke Drive, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA.
authors.forename: Clint M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Alfaro
authors.affiliation: Institute of Farm Animal Genetics, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut (FLI), Höltystr. 10, 31535 Neustadt, Germany.
authors.forename: Andres F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: González-Serrano
authors.affiliation: Institute of Farm Animal Genetics, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut (FLI), Höltystr. 10, 31535 Neustadt, Germany.
authors.forename: Heiner
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Niemann
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Stem Cell Biology and Engineering, Department of Animal Sciences and Institute for Genomic Biology University, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1207 W. Gregory, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
authors.forename: Matthew B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Wheeler
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Stem Cell Biology and Engineering, Department of Animal Sciences and Institute for Genomic Biology University, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1207 W. Gregory, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
authors.forename: Rathnaweera A C
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Rabel
authors.affiliation: Purdue Center for Cancer Research Transgenic Mouse Core Facility, Purdue University, 201 S. University Street, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA.
authors.forename: Judy E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Hallett
authors.affiliation: Purdue Center for Cancer Research Transgenic Mouse Core Facility, Purdue University, 201 S. University Street, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA.
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Houser
authors.affiliation: Purdue Center for Cancer Research Transgenic Mouse Core Facility, Purdue University, 201 S. University Street, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA.
authors.forename: Annemarie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kaufman
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Center for Analytical Instrumentation Development, Purdue University, 207 South Martin Jischke Drive, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA.
authors.forename: R Graham
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Cooks
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001755:Blastocyst / Q000378:metabolism*; D047108:Embryonic Development / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008050:Lipid A / Q000032:analysis*; D050356:Lipid Metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*; D009865:Oocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D008050:Lipid A