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High levels of saturated FAs (SFAs) are acutely toxic to a variety of cell types, including hepatocytes, and have been associated with diseases such as type 2 diabetes and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. SFA accumulation has been previously shown to degrade endoplasmic reticulum (ER) function leading to other manifestations of the lipoapoptotic cascade. We hypothesized that dysfunctional phospholipid (PL) metabolism is an initiating factor in this ER stress response. Treatment of either primary hepatocytes or H4IIEC3 cells with the SFA palmitate resulted in dramatic dilation of the ER membrane, coinciding with other markers of organelle dysfunction. This was accompanied by increased de novo glycerolipid synthesis, significant elevation of dipalmitoyl phosphatidic acid, diacylglycerol, and total PL content in H4IIEC3 cells. Supplementation with oleate (OA) reversed these markers of palmitate (PA)-induced lipotoxicity. OA/PA cotreatment modulated the distribution of PA between lipid classes, increasing the flux toward triacylglycerols while reducing its incorporation into PLs. Similar trends were demonstrated in both primary hepatocytes and the H4IIEC3 hepatoma cell line. Overall, these findings suggest that modifying the FA composition of structural PLs can protect hepatocytes from PA-induced ER stress and associated lipotoxicity.

Studies of macrophage biology have been significantly advanced by the availability of cell lines such as RAW264.7 cells. However, it is unclear how these cell lines differ from primary macrophages such as thioglycolate-elicited peritoneal macrophages (TGEMs). We used the inflammatory stimulus Kdo2-lipid A (KLA) to stimulate RAW264.7 and TGEM cells. Temporal changes of lipid and gene expression levels were concomitantly measured and a systems-level analysis was performed on the fold-change data. Here we present a comprehensive comparison between the two cell types. Upon KLA treatment, both RAW264.7 and TGEM cells show a strong inflammatory response. TGEM (primary) cells show a more rapid and intense inflammatory response relative to RAW264.7 cells. DNA levels (fold-change relative to control) are reduced in RAW264.7 cells, correlating with greater downregulation of cell cycle genes. The transcriptional response suggests that the cholesterol de novo synthesis increases considerably in RAW264.7 cells, but 25-hydroxycholesterol increases considerably in TGEM cells. Overall, while RAW264.7 cells behave similarly to TGEM cells in some ways and can be used as a good model for inflammation- and immune function-related kinetic studies, they behave differently than TGEM cells in other aspects of lipid metabolism and phenotypes used as models for various disorders such as atherosclerosis.

Monitoring lipid distribution and metabolism in cells and biological fluids poses many challenges because of the many molecular species and metabolic pathways that exist. This study describes the synthesis and study of molecules that contain an alkyne functional group as surrogates for natural lipids in cultured cells. Thus, hexadec-15-ynoic and hexadec-7-ynoic acids were readily incorporated into RAW 264.7 cells, principally as phosphocholine esters; the alkyne was used as a "tag" that could be transformed to a stable dicobalt-hexacarbonyl complex; and the complex could then be detected by HPLC/MS or HPLC/UV(349nm). The 349 nm absorbance of the cobalt complexes was used to provide qualitative and quantitative information about the distribution and cellular concentrations of the alkyne lipids. The alkyne group could also be used as an affinity tag for the lipids by a catch-and-release strategy on phosphine-coated silica beads. Lipid extracts were enriched in the tagged lipids in this way, making the approach of potential utility to study lipid transformations in cell culture. Both terminal alkynes and internal alkynes were used in this affinity "pull-down" strategy. This method facilitates measuring lipid species that might otherwise fall below limits of detection.

A reliable method for purifying envelope-stripped nuclei from immortalized murine embryonic fibroblasts (iMEFs) was established. Quantitative profiling of the glycerophospholipids (GPLs) in envelope-free iMEF nuclei yields several conclusions. First, we find the endonuclear glycerophospholipidome differs from that of bulk membranes, and phosphatidylcholine (PtdCho) and phosphatidylethanolamine species are the most abundant endonuclear GPLs by mass. By contrast, phosphatidylinositol (PtdIns) represents a minor species. We also find only a slight enrichment of saturated versus unsaturated GPL species in iMEF endonuclear fractions. Moreover, much lower values for GPL mass were measured in the iMEF nuclear matrix than those reported for envelope-stripped IMF-32 nuclei. The collective results indicate that the nuclear matrix in these cells is a GPL-poor environment where GPL occupies only approximately 0.1% of the total nuclear matrix volume. This value suggests GPL accommodation in this compartment can be satisfied by binding to resident proteins. Finally, we find no significant role for the PtdIns/PtdChotransfer protein, PITPô, in shuttling PtdIns into the iMEF nuclear matrix.-Tribble, E. K., P. T. Ivanova, A. Grabon, J. G. Alb, Jr., I. Faenza, L. Cocco, H. A. Brown, and V. A. Bankaitis. Quantitative profiling of the endonuclear glycerophospholipidome of murine embryonic fibroblasts.

Lipids orchestrate biological processes by acting remotely as signaling molecules or locally as membrane components that modulate protein function. Detailed insight into lipid function requires knowledge of the subcellular localization of individual lipids. We report an analysis of the subcellular lipidome of the mammalian macrophage, a cell type that plays key roles in inflammation, immune responses, and phagocytosis. Nuclei, mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum (ER), plasmalemma, and cytoplasm were isolated from RAW 264.7 macrophages in basal and activated states. Subsequent lipidomic analyses of major membrane lipid categories identified 229 individual/isobaric species, including 163 glycerophospholipids, 48 sphingolipids, 13 sterols, and 5 prenols. Major subcellular compartments exhibited substantially divergent glycerophospholipid profiles. Activation of macrophages by the Toll-like receptor 4-specific lipopolysaccharide Kdo(2)-lipid A caused significant remodeling of the subcellular lipidome. Some changes in lipid composition occurred in all compartments (e.g., increases in the levels of ceramides and the cholesterol precursors desmosterol and lanosterol). Other changes were manifest in specific organelles. For example, oxidized sterols increased and unsaturated cardiolipins decreased in mitochondria, whereas unsaturated ether-linked phosphatidylethanolamines decreased in the ER. We speculate that these changes may reflect mitochondrial oxidative stress and the release of arachidonic acid from the ER in response to cell activation.

Molecular events involved in successful embryo implantation are not well understood. In this study, we used MALDI imaging mass spectrometry (IMS) technologies to characterize the spatial and temporal distribution of phospholipid species associated with mouse embryo implantation. Molecular images showing phospholipid distribution within implantation sites changed markedly between distinct cellular areas during days 4-8 of pregnancy. For example, by day 8, linoleate- and docosahexaenoate-containing phospholipids localized to regions destined to undergo cell death, whereas oleate-containing phospholipids localized to angiogenic regions. Arachidonate-containing phospholipids showed different segregation patterns depending on the lipid class, revealing a strong correlation of phosphatidylethanolamines and phosphatidylinositols with cytosolic phospholipase A(2alpha) and cyclooxygenase-2 during embryo implantation. LC-ESI-MS/MS was used to validate MALDI IMS phospholipid distribution patterns. Overall, molecular images revealed the dynamic complexity of lipid distributions in early pregnancy, signifying the importance of complex interplay of lipid molecules in uterine biology and implantation.

The development of a new mass spectrometric lipid profiling methodology permits the identification of cellular phosphatidylinositol monophosphate/phosphatidylinositol bisphosphate/phosphatidylinositol trisphosphate (PIP/PIP2/PIP3) species that includes the fatty acyl composition. Using electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, we were able to resolve and identify 28 PIP and PIP2 compounds as well as 8 PIP3 compounds from RAW 264.7 or primary murine macrophage cell extracts. Analysis of PIP profiles after agonist stimulation of cells revealed the generation of differential PIP3 species and permitted us to propose a novel means for regulation and specificity in signaling through PIP3. This is the first reported identification of intact, cellular PIP3 by mass spectral analysis. The ability to analyze the fatty acyl chain composition of signaling lipids initiates new venues for investigation of the processes by which specific polyphosphoinositide species mediate.

Lipids are produced, transported, and recognized by the concerted actions of numerous enzymes, binding proteins, and receptors. A comprehensive analysis of lipid molecules, “lipidomics,” in the context of genomics and proteomics is crucial to understanding cellular physiology and pathology; consequently, lipid biology has become a major research target of the postgenomic revolution and systems biology. To facilitate international communication about lipids, a comprehensive classification of lipids with a common platform that is compatible with informatics requirements has been developed to deal with the massive amounts of data that will be generated by our lipid community. As an initial step in this development, we divide lipids into eight categories (fatty acyls, glycerolipids, glycerophospholipids, sphingolipids, sterol lipids, prenol lipids, saccharolipids, and polyketides) containing distinct classes and subclasses of molecules, devise a common manner of representing the chemical structures of individual lipids and their derivatives, and provide a 12 digit identifier for each unique lipid molecule. The lipid classification scheme is chemically based and driven by the distinct hydrophobic and hydrophilic elements that compose the lipid.This structured vocabulary will facilitate the systematization of lipid biology and enable the cataloging of lipids and their properties in a way that is compatible with other macromolecular databases.

The focus of the present study was to define the human plasma lipidome and to establish novel analytical methodologies to quantify the large spectrum of plasma lipids. Partial lipid analysis is now a regular part of every patient's blood test and physicians readily and regularly prescribe drugs that alter the levels of major plasma lipids such as cholesterol and triglycerides. Plasma contains many thousands of distinct lipid molecular species that fall into six main categories including fatty acyls, glycerolipids, glycerophospholipids, sphingolipids, sterols, and prenols. The physiological contributions of these diverse lipids and how their levels change in response to therapy remain largely unknown. As a first step toward answering these questions, we provide herein an in-depth lipidomics analysis of a pooled human plasma obtained from healthy individuals after overnight fasting and with a gender balance and an ethnic distribution that is representative of the US population. In total, we quantitatively assessed the levels of over 500 distinct molecular species distributed among the main lipid categories. As more information is obtained regarding the roles of individual lipids in health and disease, it seems likely that future blood tests will include an ever increasing number of these lipid molecules.