Mass spectrometry is an indispensable tool in lipidomics research. Current advances and progress in the technology of mass spectrometry have allowed for the identification, quantification and characterization of lipid molecular species to further our understanding of their biological roles. In this thesis, I assessed the influence post-mortem times have on quantitative lipidomics. Using liquid chromatography - electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESIMS/MS) on a triple-quadrupole mass spectrometer and multiple-reaction-monitoring (MRM) mode, the glycerophosphocholine (GPC) metabolites and second messengers in the hippocampus of N3 & N4 C57BL/6 x 129/SV were profiled at various post-mortem interval (PMI). I found that disruption to the GPC metabolite and second messengers lipidome occured as early as 1 hour postmortem and fluctuate up till at least 12 hours post-mortem. Therefore, PMI is a variable in lipidomic studies that must be controlled for, and brain samples which are collected with PMI variations must be matched to avoid misinterpretation. Subsequently, I developed a working protocol to visualize the location and distribution of different classes of glycerophospholipids, ceramides, and sphingomyelin in whole mouse brain sections. This visualization technique is novel because it does not require tissue staining or immunohistochemistry; instead, it was performed using an atmospheric-pressure matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (AP-MALDI) source coupled to an orbitrap mass spectrometer. As part of this lipid visualization technique, I also developed a protocol for sublimation as a simple, effective and reproducible matrix application
method for brain tissue. The lipid-compatible matrix, 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid (DHB), was assessed and optimized for imaging lipid targets. The high mass-resolution and accuracy characteristics of the orbitrap mass spectrometer and its capability to perform tandem mass spectrometry via high-collision dissociation allowed for the identification of approximately 200 different lipid species directly from brain tissue using the visualization technique I developed.
Altogether, the work in this thesis has showed that post-mortem changes in the lipidome are quantifiable and has provided a novel avenue to further assess these changes by means of imaging mass spectrometry.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:uottawa.ca/oai:ruor.uottawa.ca:10393/36536 |
| Date | January 2017 |
| Creators | Nguyen, Thao |
| Contributors | Berezovski, Maxim, Bennett, Steffany A.L. |
| Publisher | Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa |
| Source Sets | Université d’Ottawa |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | application/pdf |
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