Watson Andrew D
Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
J Lipid Res. 2006 Oct;47(10):2101-11. doi: 10.1194/jlr.R600022-JLR200. Epub 2006 Aug 10.
Lipids are water-insoluble molecules that have a wide variety of functions within cells, including: 1) maintenance of electrochemical gradients; 2) subcellular partitioning; 3) first- and second-messenger cell signaling; 4) energy storage; and 5) protein trafficking and membrane anchoring. The physiological importance of lipids is illustrated by the numerous diseases to which lipid abnormalities contribute, including atherosclerosis, diabetes, obesity, and Alzheimer's disease. Lipidomics, a branch of metabolomics, is a systems-based study of all lipids, the molecules with which they interact, and their function within the cell. Recent advances in soft-ionization mass spectrometry, combined with established separation techniques, have allowed the rapid and sensitive detection of a variety of lipid species with minimal sample preparation. A "lipid profile" from a crude lipid extract is a mass spectrum of the composition and abundance of the lipids it contains, which can be used to monitor changes over time and in response to particular stimuli. Lipidomics, integrated with genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics, will contribute toward understanding how lipids function in a biological system and will provide a powerful tool for elucidating the mechanism of lipid-based disease, for biomarker screening, and for monitoring pharmacologic therapy.
脂质是不溶于水的分子，在细胞内具有多种功能，包括：1）维持电化学梯度；2）亚细胞分隔；3）第一信使和第二信使细胞信号传导；4）能量储存；5）蛋白质运输和膜锚定。脂质异常导致的众多疾病，如动脉粥样硬化、糖尿病、肥胖症和阿尔茨海默病，都说明了脂质在生理上的重要性。脂质组学作为代谢组学的一个分支，是基于系统的对所有脂质、与脂质相互作用的分子及其在细胞内功能的研究。软电离质谱技术的最新进展，结合已有的分离技术，使得在样品制备最少的情况下能够快速、灵敏地检测各种脂质种类。粗脂质提取物的“脂质谱”是其所含脂质的组成和丰度的质谱图，可用于监测随时间的变化以及对特定刺激的反应。脂质组学与基因组学、蛋白质组学和代谢组学相结合，将有助于理解脂质在生物系统中的功能，并为阐明脂质相关疾病的机制、生物标志物筛选和药物治疗监测提供强大工具。
