Mass spectrometry-based lipodomics using monodisperse particle UHPLC/HPLC (MFPP) columns for biomarker discovery

Lipidomics is a subset of metabolomics, focused specifically on the analysis of lipid species.

Lipids are among the most vital compounds in living organisms that serve to fulfil various functions, including building blocks for cellular and extracellular vesicle membranes, cell signaling, and energy storage. Studying the biological function of lipids plays a significant factor in understanding their overall effect on human health.

The structure of a lipid can be altered, due to a shift in their environment caused by endogenous or exogenous factors. These factors can be genetics, diet-base, or caused by diseases. The classes of lipids vary in polarity, from phospholipids to triacyl glycerides, and it is estimated that there are over 300,000 possible lipid structures with varying fatty acyl chain lengths from 12 to 26 carbons. Mass spectrometry (MS)-based lipidomics generally require the use of liquid chromatography to separate the complex lipids present in biofluids, based on polarity and high-resolution MS to accurately measure the mass-to-charge (m/z).

Join Dr. Timothy Garrett, Associate Professor at the University of Florida, to find out more about the technology needed for the correct identification of lipids, and how monodisperse particles can improve the speed and separation capacity of lipids. Plus, Garrett will also explore the analytical advances in chromatography and bioinformatics (IE-Omics), in the context of several disorders, including malaria, cancer and rare diseases.

Key learning objectives

• Learn the basics of applied lipidomics using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography- high-resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS/MS)

• Understand how lipidomics can be used for developing new diagnostic tests

• Discover the potential of lipidomics, while understanding current limitations

• Understand the role of chromatography in lipidomics

• Learn how utilizing monodisperse fully porous particles can improve your current lipidomics method

Who should attend?

• LC scientists that are looking for more lipidomic separations efficiency

• Scientists looking to improve their current HPLC/UHPLC separations for metabolomics

• Chromatographers looking to start developing new lipidomics based HPLC/UHPLC methods

Presenter: Timothy J. Garrett (Associate Professor, University of Florida, View Biography)

Dr. Timothy J. Garrett is an Associate Professor and Chief of Experimental Pathology in the Department of Pathology, Immunology and Laboratory Medicine at the College of Medicine, University of Florida. Garrett has also served as PI or Co-PI on grants and contracts totaling over $39M of funding from institutions such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) and the American Diabetes Association (ADA). He has an undergraduate degree and a PhD in Chemistry. As a graduate student, he worked on the development and design the first imaging mass spectrometry ion trap instrument through a partnership with Thermo Fisher Scientific and studied the disposition and characterization of phospholipids in brain tissue. He has over 20 years of experience working with Thermo Fisher Scientific instrumentation including the TSQ 7000. He joined the faculty at the University of Florida in 2006, where he has developed a research program in metabolomics, lipidomics, and small molecule quantitation for clinical and biological research using mass spectrometry approaches. He is also currently Co-Editor-in-Chief for the Journal of Mass Spectrometry and Advances in the Clinical lab.

Presenter: Carrie Haslam (SelectScience)

Dr. Carrie Haslam is an Associate Editor at SelectScience, playing a key role in content production and specializing in Materials Science, Alzheimer’s disease and Clinical Diagnostics. Carrie completed a Ph.D. from The University of Plymouth, where she developed graphene-based biosensors for the early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease.