A fast liquid chromatography-mass Spectrometry methodology for membrane lipid profiling through hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography.

In this paper, we report the development of a new method based on HILIC-ESI-MS for the separation of several different membrane lipid classes and their detection on a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer using Precursor Ion (PIS) and Neutral Loss (NL) scanning in positive ion mode. Four different columns were tested for their ability to separate, under different conditions, a mixture of 14 lipid standards containing 7 glycerophospholipids (GPL), 2 glycosphyngolipids (GSL), 3 glycolipids (GL) and 2 betaine lipids (BL). The best separation was obtained using a Lichrosphere DIOL column as stationary phase and water (10mm ammonium acetate)/acetonitrile gradient elution as mobile phase which allows the separation of the 14 lipid classes within 35min runtime. Our method was successfully tested for the separation and analysis of crude lipid extracts obtained from a green alga (Jaoa bullata), a dinoflagellate (Peridinium cinctum) and a plant (Vitis vinifera cv. Corvina).