Localization of Double Bonds in Bacterial Glycerophospholipids Using 193 nm Ultraviolet Photodissociation in the Negative Mode

Structural Annotation Method for Locating sn- and C═C Positions of Lipids Using Liquid Chromatography-Electron Impact Excitation of Ions from Organics (EIEIO)-Mass Spectrometry

Definitive structural elucidation of lipids is pivotal for unraveling the functions of lipids in biological systems. Despite advancements in mass spectrometry (MS) for lipid analysis, challenges in annotation scope and efficiency remain, especially in resolving isomers. Herein, we introduce an optimized method using liquid chromatography coupled with electron impact excitation of ions from organic tandem mass spectrometry (LC-EIEIO-MS/MS) for comprehensive analysis and structural annotation of lipids. This approach integrates a six-step analytical protocol for precise lipid annotation, including (1) extracting MS information, (2) classifying lipids, (3) aligning sum composition, (4) determining sn-positions, (5) locating C═C positions, and (6) ascertaining annotation levels. In analyzing 34 lipid standards spiked into serum, our method achieved 100% and 82.4% annotation accuracy at the sn- and C═C isomer levels, respectively, compared to 26.5% and 0% in the CID mode using MS-DIAL. A total of 1312 sn-positions and 1033 C═C locations of lipids were annotated in quality control plasma pooled from healthy individuals and patients with Alzheimer's disease. The isomers of lipids revealed more pronounced differences between the healthy and diseased groups compared to the sum compositions of the lipids. Overall, the LC-EIEIO-MS/MS approach provides a comprehensive profiling and efficient annotation method for lipidomics, promising to shed new light on lipid-related biological pathways and disease mechanisms.

Structural characterization of wax esters using ultraviolet photodissociation mass spectrometry

Wax esters play critical roles in biological systems, serving functions from energy storage to chemical signaling. Their diversity is attributed to variations in alcohol and acyl chains, including their length, branching, and the stereochemistry of double bonds. Traditional analysis by mass spectrometry with collisional activations (CID, HCD) offers insights into acyl chain lengths and unsaturation level. Still, it falls short in pinpointing more nuanced structural features like the position of double bonds. As a solution, this study explores the application of 213-nm ultraviolet photodissociation (UVPD) for the detailed structural analysis of wax esters. It is shown that lithium adducts provide unique fragments as a result of Norrish and Norrish-Yang reactions at the ester moieties and photoinduced cleavages of double bonds. The product ions are useful for determining chain lengths and localizing double bonds. UVPD spectra of various wax esters are presented systematically, and the effect of activation time is discussed. The applicability of tandem mass spectrometry with UVPD is demonstrated for wax esters from natural sources. The UHPLC analysis of jojoba oil proves the compatibility of MS2 UVPD with the chromatography time scale, and a direct infusion is used to analyze wax esters from vernix caseosa. Data shows the potential of UVPD and its combination with CID or HCD in advancing our understanding of wax ester structures.

Cross-Validation of Lipid Structure Assignment Using Orthogonal Ion Activation Modalities on the Same Mass Spectrometer

The onset and progression of cancer is associated with changes in the composition of the lipidome. Therefore, better understanding of the molecular mechanisms of these disease states requires detailed structural characterization of the individual lipids within the complex cellular milieu. Recently, changes in the unsaturation profile of membrane lipids have been observed in cancer cells and tissues, but assigning the position(s) of carbon-carbon double bonds in fatty acyl chains carried by membrane phospholipids, including the resolution of lipid regioisomers, has proven analytically challenging. Conventional tandem mass spectrometry approaches based on collision-induced dissociation of ionized glycerophospholipids do not yield spectra that are indicative of the location(s) of carbon-carbon double bonds. Ozone-induced dissociation (OzID) and ultraviolet photodissociation (UVPD) have emerged as alternative ion activation modalities wherein diagnostic product ions can enable de novo assignment of position(s) of unsaturation based on predictable fragmentation behaviors. Here, for the first time, OzID and UVPD (193 nm) mass spectra are acquired on the same mass spectrometer to evaluate the relative performance of the two modalities for lipid identification and to interrogate the respective fragmentation pathways under comparable conditions. Based on investigations of lipid standards, fragmentation rules for each technique are expanded to increase confidence in structural assignments and exclude potential false positives. Parallel application of both methods to unsaturated phosphatidylcholines extracted from isogenic colorectal cancer cell lines provides high confidence in the assignment of multiple double bond isomers in these samples and cross-validates relative changes in isomer abundance.

FAIMS Shotgun Lipidomics for Enhanced Class- and Charge-State Separation Complemented by Automated Ganglioside Annotation

The analysis of gangliosides is extremely challenging, given their structural complexity, lack of reference standards, databases, and software solutions. Here, we introduce a fast 6 min high field asymmetric ion mobility spectrometry (FAIMS) shotgun lipidomics workflow, along with a dedicated software solution for ganglioside detection. By ramping FAIMS compensation voltages, ideal ranges for different ganglioside classes were obtained. FAIMS revealed both class- and charge-state separation behavior based on the glycan headgroup moiety. The number of sialic acids attached to the glycan moiety correlates positively with their preferred charge states, i.e., trisialylated gangliosides were mainly present as [M - 3H]3- ions, whereas [M - 4H]4- and [M - 5H]5- ions were observed for GQ1 and GP1. For data evaluation, we developed a shotgun/FAIMS extension for the open-source Lipid Data Analyzer (LDA), enabling automated annotation of gangliosides up to the molecular lipid species level. This extension utilized combined orthogonal fragmentation spectra from CID, HCD, and 213 nm UVPD ion activation methods and covers 29 ganglioside classes, including acetylated and fucosylated modifications. With our new workflow and software extension 117 unique gangliosides species were identified in porcine brain extracts. While conventional shotgun lipidomics favored the observation of singly charged ganglioside species, the utilization of FAIMS made multiply charged lipid species accessible, resulting in an increased number of detected species, primarily due to an improved signal-to-noise ratio arising from FAIMS charge state filtering. Therefore, this FAIMS-driven workflow, complemented by new software capabilities, offers a promising strategy for complex ganglioside and glycosphingolipid characterization in shotgun lipidomics.

Structural Characterization and Quantitation of Ether-Linked Glycerophospholipids in Peroxisome Biogenesis Disorder Tissue by Ultraviolet Photodissociation Mass Spectrometry

The biological impact of ether glycerophospholipids (GP) in peroxisomal disorders and other diseases makes them significant targets as biomarkers for diagnostic assays or deciphering pathology of the disorders. Ether lipids include both plasmanyl and plasmenyl lipids, which each contain an ether or a vinyl ether bond at the sn-1 linkage position, respectively. This linkage, in contrast to traditional diacyl GPs, precludes their detailed characterization by mass spectrometry via traditional collisional-based MS/MS techniques. Additionally, the isomeric nature of plasmanyl and plasmenyl pairs of ether lipids introduces a further level of complexity that impedes analysis of these species. Here, we utilize 213 nm ultraviolet photodissociation mass spectrometry (UVPD-MS) for detailed characterization of phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) and phosphatidylcholine (PC) plasmenyl and plasmanyl lipids in mouse brain tissue. 213 nm UVPD-MS enables the successful differentiation of these four ether lipid subtypes for the first time. We couple this UVPD-MS methodology to reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RPLC) for characterization and relative quantitation of ether lipids from normal and diseased (Pex7 deficiency modeling the peroxisome biogenesis disorder, RCDP) mouse brain tissue, highlighting the ability to pinpoint specific structural features of ether lipids that are important for monitoring aberrant lipid metabolism in peroxisomal disorders.

Enhancing the Signal-to-Noise of Diagnostic Fragment Ions of Unsaturated Glycerophospholipids via Precursor Exclusion Ultraviolet Photodissociation Mass Spectrometry (PEx-UVPD-MS)

Understanding and elucidating the diverse structures and functions of lipids has motivated the development of many innovative tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) strategies. Higher-energy activation methods, such as ultraviolet photodissociation (UVPD), generate unique fragment ions from glycerophospholipids that can be used to perform in-depth structural analysis and facilitate the deconvolution of isomeric lipid structures in complex samples. Although detailed characterization is central to the correlation of lipid structure to biological function, it is often impeded by the lack of sufficient instrument sensitivity for highly bioactive but low-abundance phospholipids. Here, we present precursor exclusion (PEx) UVPD, a simple yet powerful technique to enhance the signal-to-noise (S/N) of informative low-abundance fragment ions produced from UVPD of glycerophospholipids. Through the exclusion of the large population of undissociated precursor ions with an MS3 strategy, the S/N of diagnostic fragment ions from PC 18:0/18:2(9Z, 12Z) increased up to an average of 13x for PEx-UVPD compared to UVPD alone. These enhancements were extended to complex mixtures of lipids from bovine liver extract to confidently identify 35 unique structures using liquid chromatography PEx-UVPD. This methodology has the potential to advance lipidomics research by offering deeper structure elucidation and confident identification of biologically active lipids.

Deep-lipidotyping by mass spectrometry: recent technical advances and applications

In-depth structural characterization of lipids is an essential component of lipidomics. There has been a rapid expansion of mass spectrometry methods that are capable of resolving lipid isomers at various structural levels over the past decade. These developments finally make deep-lipidotyping possible, which provides new means to study lipid metabolism and discover new lipid biomarkers. In this review, we discuss recent advancements in tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) methods for identification of complex lipids beyond the species (known headgroup information) and molecular species (known chain composition) levels. These include identification at the levels of carbon-carbon double bond (C=C) location and sn-position as well as characterization of acyl chain modifications. We also discuss the integration of isomer-resolving MS/MS methods with different lipid analysis workflows and their applications in lipidomics. The results showcase the distinct capabilities of deep-lipidotyping in untangling the metabolism of individual isomers and sensitive phenotyping by using relative fractional quantitation of the isomers.

Localization of Intrachain Modifications in Bacterial Lipids Via Radical-Directed Dissociation

Intrachain modifications of membrane glycerophospholipids (GPLs) due to formation of the carbon-carbon double bond (C═C), cyclopropane ring, and methyl branching are crucial for bacterial membrane homeostasis. Conventional collision-induced dissociation (CID) of even-electron ions of GPL favors charge-directed fragmentation channels, and thus little structurally informative fragments can be detected for locating intrachain modifications. In this study, we report a radical-directed dissociation (RDD) approach for characterization of the intrachain modifications within phosphoethanolamines (PEs), a major lipid component in bacterial membrane. In this method, a radical precursor that can produce benzyl or pyridine methyl radical upon low-energy CID at high efficiency is conjugated onto the amine group of PEs. The carbon-centered radical ions subsequently initiate RDD along the fatty acyl chain, producing fragment patterns key to the assignment and localization of intrachain modifications including C═C, cyclopropane rings, and methyl branching. Besides intrachain fragmentation, RDD on the glycerol backbone produces fatty acyl loss as radicals, allowing one to identify the fatty acyl chain composition of PE. Moreover, RDD of lyso-PEs produces radical losses for distinguishing the sn-isomers. The above RDD approach has been incorporated onto a liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry workflow and applied for the analysis of lipid extracts from Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis.

Mass Spectrometry Imaging Techniques Enabling Visualization of Lipid Isomers in Biological Tissues

This Feature focuses on a review of recent developments in mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) of lipid isomers in biological tissues. The tandem MS techniques utilizing online and offline chemical derivatization procedures, ion activation techniques such as ozone-induced dissociation (OzID), ultraviolet photodissociation (UVPD), or electron-induced dissociation (EID), and other techniques such as coupling of ion mobility with MSI are discussed. The importance of resolving lipid isomers in diseases is highlighted.

Structures and functions of the gut microbial lipidome

Microbial lipids provide signals that are responsible for maintaining host health and controlling disease. The differences in the structures of microbial lipids have been shown to alter receptor selectivity and agonist/antagonist activity. Advanced lipidomics is an emerging field that helps to elucidate the complex bacterial lipid diversity. The use of cutting-edge technologies is expected to lead to the discovery of new functional metabolites involved in host homeostasis. This review aims to describe recent updates on functional lipid metabolites derived from gut microbiota, their structure-activity relationships, and advanced lipidomics technologies.

Enhanced Characterization of Cardiolipins via Hybrid 193 nm Ultraviolet Photodissociation Mass Spectrometry

Cardiolipins (CLs) constitute a structurally complex class of glycerophospholipids with a unique tetraacylated structure accompanied by distinctive functional roles. Aberrations in the composition of this lipid class have been associated with disease states, spurring interest in the development of new approaches to differentiate the structures of diverse CLs in complex mixtures. The structural characterization of these complex lipids using conventional methods, however, suffers from limited resolution and frequently proves unable to discern subtle yet biologically significant features such as unsaturation sites or acyl chain position assignments. Here, we describe the synergistic use of chemical derivatization and hybrid dissociation techniques to characterize CL from complex biological mixtures with both double bond and sn positional isomer resolution in a shotgun mass spectrometry strategy. Utilizing (trimethylsilyl)diazomethane (TMSD), CL phosphate groups were methylated to promote positive-mode ionization by the production of metal-cationized lipids, enabling structural interrogation via hybrid higher-energy collisional activation/ultraviolet photodissociation (HCD/UVPD). This combination of TMSD derivatization and HCD/UVPD fragmentation results in diagnostic product ions that permit distinction and relative quantitation of sn-stereoisomers and the localization of double bonds. Applying this strategy to a total lipid extract from a thyroid carcinoma revealed a previously unreported 18:2/18:1 motif, elucidating a structural feature unique to the lipid class.

Recent advances in the mass spectrometric profiling of bacterial lipids

Exploring the lipids of bacteria presents a predicament that may not be broadly recognized in a field dominated by the biology and biochemistry of eukaryotic - and especially, mammalian - lipids. Bacteria make multifarious metabolites that contain fatty acyl chains of unusual length and unsaturation attached to assorted headgroups, including sugars and fatty alcohols. Lipid profiling approaches developed for eukaryotic lipids often fail to detect, resolve, or identify bacterial lipids due to their wide range of polarities (including very hydrophobic species) and diverse positional and stereochemical variations. Global lipid profiling, or lipidomics, of bacteria has thus developed as a separate mission with methodological and scientific considerations tailored to the biology of these organisms. In this review, we summarize findings primarily from the last three years that exemplify recent advances and continuing challenges to learning about bacterial lipids.

Review of Recent Advances in Lipid Analysis of Biological Samples via Ambient Ionization Mass Spectrometry

The rapid and direct structural characterization of lipids proves to be critical for studying the functional roles of lipids in many biological processes. Among numerous analytical techniques, ambient ionization mass spectrometry (AIMS) allows for a direct molecular characterization of lipids from various complex biological samples with no/minimal sample pretreatment. Over the recent years, researchers have expanded the applications of the AIMS techniques to lipid structural elucidation via a combination with a series of derivatization strategies (e.g., the Paternò–Büchi (PB) reaction, ozone-induced dissociation (OzID), and epoxidation reaction), including carbon–carbon double bond (C=C) locations and sn-positions isomers. Herein, this review summarizes the reaction mechanisms of various derivatization strategies for C=C bond analysis, typical instrumental setup, and applications of AIMS in the structural elucidation of lipids from various biological samples (e.g., tissues, cells, and biofluids). In addition, future directions of AIMS for lipid structural elucidation are discussed.

Relative Quantitation of Unsaturated Phosphatidylcholines Using 193 nm Ultraviolet Photodissociation Parallel Reaction Monitoring Mass Spectrometry

Structural characterization of glycerophospholipids beyond the fatty acid level has become a major endeavor in lipidomics, presenting an opportunity to advance the understanding of the intricate relationship between lipid metabolism and disease state. Distinguishing subtle lipid structural features, however, remains a major challenge for high-throughput workflows that implement traditional tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) techniques, stunting the molecular depth of quantitative strategies. Here, reversed phase liquid chromatography is coupled to parallel reaction mass spectrometry utilizing the double bond localization capabilities of ultraviolet photodissociation (UVPD) mass spectrometry to produce double bond isomer specific responses that are leveraged for relative quantitation. The strategy provides lipidomic characterization at the double bond level for phosphatidylcholine phospholipids from biological extracts. In addition to quantifying monounsaturated lipids, quantitation of phospholipids incorporating isomeric polyunsaturated fatty acids is also achieved. Using this technique, phosphatidylcholine isomer ratios are compared across human normal and tumor breast tissue to reveal significant structural alterations related to disease state.

Investigation of the Experimental Parameters of Ultraviolet Photodissociation for the Structural Characterization of Chondroitin Sulfate Glycosaminoglycan Isomers

Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) are linear polysaccharides that participate in a broad range of biological functions. Their incomplete biosynthesis pathway leads to nonuniform chains and complex mixtures. For this reason, the characterization of GAGs has been a difficult hurdle for the analytical community. Recently, ultraviolet photodissociation (UVPD) has emerged as a useful tool for determining sites of modification within a GAG chain. Here, we investigate the ability for UVPD to distinguish chondroitin sulfate epimers and the effects of UVPD experimental parameters on fragmentation efficiency. Chondroitin sulfate A (CS-A) and chondroitin sulfate B (CS-B), commonly referred to as dermatan sulfate (DS), differ only in C-5 uronic acid stereochemistry. This uronic acid difference can influence GAG-protein binding and therefore can alter the specific biological function of a GAG chain. Prior tandem mass spectrometry methods investigated for the elucidation of GAG structures also have difficulty differentiating 4-O from 6-O sulfation in chondroitin sulfate GAGs. Preliminary data using UVPD to characterize GAGs showed a promising ability to characterize 4-O sulfation in CS-A GAGs. Here, we look in depth at the capability of UVPD to distinguish chondroitin sulfate C-5 diastereomers and the role of key experimental parameters in making this distinction. Results using a 193 nm excimer laser and a 213 nm solid-state laser are compared for this study. The effect of precursor ionization state, the number of laser pulses (193 or 213 nm UVPD), and the use of the low-pressure versus high-pressure trap are investigated.

Perspective on Emerging Mass Spectrometry Technologies for Comprehensive Lipid Structural Elucidation

Lipids and metabolites are of interest in many clinical and research settings because it is the metabolome that is increasingly recognized as a more dynamic and sensitive molecular measure of phenotype. The enormous diversity of lipid structures and the importance of biological structure-function relationships in a wide variety of applications makes accurate identification a challenging yet crucial area of research in the lipid community. Indeed, subtle differences in the chemical structures of lipids can have important implications in cellular metabolism and many disease pathologies. The speed, sensitivity, and molecular specificity afforded by modern mass spectrometry has led to its widespread adoption in the field of lipidomics on many different instrument platforms and experimental workflows. However, unambiguous and complete structural identification of lipids by mass spectrometry remains challenging. Increasingly sophisticated tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) approaches are now being developed and seamlessly integrated into lipidomics workflows to meet this challenge. These approaches generally either (i) alter the type of ion that is interrogated or (ii) alter the dissociation method in order to improve the structural information obtained from the MS/MS experiment. In this Perspective, we highlight recent advances in both ion type alteration and ion dissociation methods for lipid identification by mass spectrometry. This discussion is aimed to engage investigators involved in fundamental ion chemistry and technology developments as well as practitioners of lipidomics and its many applications. The rapid rate of technology development in recent years has accelerated and strengthened the ties between these two research communities. We identify the common characteristics and practical figures of merit of these emerging approaches and discuss ways these may catalyze future directions of lipid structural elucidation research.

Unsaturation Elements and Other Modifications of Phospholipids in Bacteria: New Insight from Ultraviolet Photodissociation Mass Spectrometry

Glycerophospholipids (GPLs), one of the main components of bacterial cell membranes, exhibit high levels of structural complexity that are directly correlated with biophysical membrane properties such as permeability and fluidity. This structural complexity arises from the substantial variability in the individual GPL structural components such as the acyl chain length and headgroup type and is further amplified by the presence of modifications such as double bonds and cyclopropane rings. Here we use liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution and high-mass-accuracy ultraviolet photodissociation mass spectrometry for the most in-depth study of bacterial GPL modifications to date. In doing so, we unravel a diverse array of unexplored GPL modifications, ranging from acyl chain hydroxyl groups to novel headgroup structures. Along with characterizing these modifications, we elucidate general trends in bacterial GPL unsaturation elements and thus aim to decipher some of the biochemical pathways of unsaturation incorporation in bacterial GPLs. Finally, we discover aminoacyl-PGs not only in Gram-positive bacteria but also in Gram-negative C. jejuni, advancing our knowledge of the methods of surface charge modulation that Gram-negative organisms may adopt for antibiotic resistance.