title: Advances and unresolved challenges in the structural characterization of isomeric lipids.
abstract: As the field of lipidomics grows and its application becomes wide and varied it is important that we don't forget its foundation, i.e. the identification and measurement of molecular lipids. Advances in liquid chromatography and the emergence of ion mobility as a useful tool in lipid analysis are allowing greater separation of lipid isomers than ever before. At the same time, novel ion activation techniques, such as ozone-induced dissociation, are pushing lipid structural characterization by mass spectrometry to new levels. Nevertheless, the quantitative capacity of these techniques is yet to be proven and further refinements are required to unravel the high level of lipid complexity found in biological samples. At present there is no one technique capable of providing full structural characterization of lipids from a biological sample. There are however, numerous techniques now available (as discussed in this review) that could be deployed in a targeted approach. Moving forward, the combination of advanced separation and ion activation techniques is likely to provide mass spectrometry-based lipidomics with its best opportunity to achieve complete molecular-level lipid characterization and measurement from complex mixtures.
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia.
authors.forename: Sarah E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Hancock
authors.affiliation: Central Analytical Research Facility, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD 4001, Australia.
authors.forename: Berwyck L J
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Poad
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia.
authors.forename: Amani
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Batarseh
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia.
authors.forename: Sarah K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Abbott
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia. Electronic address: toddm@uow.edu.au.
authors.forename: Todd W
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Mitchell
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D008055:Lipids / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry*; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*; D015394:Molecular Structure
chemical_list: D008055:Lipids
keywords: Chromatography; Ion mobility; Lipid isomers; Lipidomics; Mass spectrometry