title: Free fatty acid profiling of marine sentinels by nanoLC-EI-MS for the assessment of environmental pollution effects.
abstract: The present work aims to elucidate the free fatty acid (FFA) profile of the mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis caged in an anthropogenically impacted area and in a reference site through an innovative and validated analytical approach for the assessment of biological alterations induced by marine pollution. The FFA pattern is involved in the regulation of different cellular pathways and differs with respect to metabolic stimuli. To this purpose, the lipid fraction of mussels coming from both sampling areas was extracted and the FFA fractions were isolated and purified by a solid phase extraction; then, nano-scale liquid chromatography coupled to electron ionization mass spectrometry (nanoLC-EI-MS) was employed for the characterization of the two samples. A total of 19 and 17 FFAs were reliably identified in the mussels coming from the reference and polluted site, respectively. Significant qualitative and quantitative differences found in saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated species may be exploited as typical pollution biomarkers (e.g. alteration of the fatty acid biosynthetic system and lipotoxicity) and explain adverse and compromising effects (e.g. oxidative stress and inflammatory processes) related to environmental pollution.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Biologiche, Farmaceutiche ed Ambientali, University of Messina, Polo Annunziata - viale Annunziata, 98168 Messina, Italy. Electronic address: aalbergamo@unime.it.
authors.forename: Ambrogina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Albergamo
authors.affiliation: Chromaleont s.r.l., c/o University of Messina, Polo Annunziata - viale Annunziata, 98168 Messina, Italy. Electronic address: francesca.rigano@chromaleont.it.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rigano
authors.affiliation: Chromaleont s.r.l., c/o University of Messina, Polo Annunziata - viale Annunziata, 98168 Messina, Italy. Electronic address: giorgia.purcaro@chromaleont.it.
authors.forename: Giorgia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Purcaro
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Biologiche, Farmaceutiche ed Ambientali, University of Messina, Polo Annunziata - viale Annunziata, 98168 Messina, Italy. Electronic address: amauceri@unime.it.
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mauceri
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Biologiche, Farmaceutiche ed Ambientali, University of Messina, Polo Annunziata - viale Annunziata, 98168 Messina, Italy. Electronic address: sfasulo@unime.it.
authors.forename: Salvatore
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fasulo
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Biologiche, Farmaceutiche ed Ambientali, University of Messina, Polo Annunziata - viale Annunziata, 98168 Messina, Italy; Chromaleont s.r.l., c/o University of Messina, Polo Annunziata - viale Annunziata, 98168 Messina, Italy; Centro Integrato di Ricerca, University Campus Bio-Medico of Rome, Via Álvaro del Portillo, 21, 00128 Rome, Italy. Electronic address: lmondello@unime.it.
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mondello
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D005230:Fatty Acids, Nonesterified / Q000378:metabolism*; D007558:Italy; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D049878:Mytilus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D005230:Fatty Acids, Nonesterified; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Bioindicator; Biomonitoring; Environmental pollution; Free fatty acids (FFAs); M. galloprovincialis; NanoLC-EI-MS