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Lipidomics is emerging
Biochimica et Biophysica Acta 1634 (2003) 61 www.bba-direct.com
Editorial
Lipidomics is emerging Gene analysis on a wide scale has brought new leads for comprehension of the multifaceted mechanisms and regulations of the chemical reactions going on in the living cell and the living organism. The burst of new techniques associated with functional analysis of genes has given rise to huge amounts of data obtained and classified by experts in genomics, transcriptomics and proteomics. All the molecules concerned by those specialties, DNAs, RNAs and proteins, are directly related to genes. The situation becomes more complex when extended to whole metabolism, because the corresponding metabolomics must include all molecules as they affect not only metabolism, but also signaling and gene regulation. Although metabolomics should remain an integrated approach by itself, its complexity requires analogous integrated approaches focused on its components such as glycomics and lipidomics. The term lipidomics has just emerged in the literature [1,2], but needs a clear definition. It can be defined as ‘‘the full characterization of lipid molecular species and of their biological roles with respect to expression of proteins involved in lipid metabolism and function, including gene regulation’’ [3]. As a matter of fact, the ‘‘Research Group on Lipids and Lipoproteins’’ (GERLI) of the French Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (SFBBM) has contributed to this definition with its 2003 Annual Congress, entitled ‘‘Lipidomics: Molecular Diversity and Physiopathologies’’ (http://www.gerli.com). Full identification of lipids in living organisms is far from being achieved as new lipid structures even from mammalian tissues are constantly being elucidated. In the context of cells and organisms, lipids contribute to the dynamics of biological membranes, to energy storage and expenditure, and to conveying messages at all cellular levels, including the nucleus. Consequently, multidisciplinary approaches are needed to gain insight into in vivo functions of lipids both in normal and pathological states. These should include:
Mapping of the lipid molecular species, especially by high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS). This requires improvement of efficiency and, possibly, searching for a chip-type technology. The use of physico-chemical methods for modeling and understanding lipid – protein interaction, especially in lipid microdomains of biological membranes. This is largely based on chemical strategies for the synthesis of specific lipids, analogs and probes. 1388-1981/$ - see front matter D 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.bbalip.2003.11.002
In the frame of functional genomics identifying the network of lipid and non-lipid mediators, which interact within the metabolome. This is to integrate lipidomics and proteomics for a comprehensive view of homeostasis and functional disorders.
Timely enough, in the United States the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) very recently announced a $ 35-million grant to fund a huge 5-year collaborative project, entitled ‘‘Lipid metabolites and pathways strategy‘‘ (LIPID MAPS, http://www.lipidmaps.org). The research consortium is led by Edward Dennis (former editor for this BBA section), who formulated ‘‘Lipids are in many ways the most important of the biomolecules because they are the ultimate controllers and regulators of our bodily processes; they are key to signaling events in cells’’ [4]. To achieve all this, multidisciplinarity will be the salient feature of lipidomics and will aid to grasp the full dimension of the role of lipids in the physiology and pathophysiology of cells and organisms. BBA welcomes papers in this area. References [1] J.F. Wilson, Long-suffering lipids gain respect, The Scientist 17 (5) (2003). [2] X. Han, R.W. Gross, Global analyses of cellular lipidomes directly from crude extracts of biological samples by ESI mass spectrometry: a bridge to lipidomics, J. Lipid Res. 44 (2003) 1071 – 1079. [3] F. Spener, M. Lagarde, A. Ge´loe¨n, M. Record, What is lipidomics? Eur. J. Lipid Sci. Technol. 105 (2003) 481 – 482. [4] D. Martindale, A large look at lipids—major grant will fund team effort to characterize human lipidome, The Scientist 17 (15) (2003).
Michel Lagarde Alain Ge´loe¨n Villeurbanne, France Michel Record Toulouse, France Dennis Vance Edmonton, Canada Fritz Spener Department of Biochemistry, University of Mu¨nster, Wilhelm-Klemm-Str. 2, 48149, Mu¨nster, Germany Tel.: +49-251-83-33100; fax: +49-251-83-32132 E-mail address: [email protected]
Editorial
Lipidomics is emerging Gene analysis on a wide scale has brought new leads for comprehension of the multifaceted mechanisms and regulations of the chemical reactions going on in the living cell and the living organism. The burst of new techniques associated with functional analysis of genes has given rise to huge amounts of data obtained and classified by experts in genomics, transcriptomics and proteomics. All the molecules concerned by those specialties, DNAs, RNAs and proteins, are directly related to genes. The situation becomes more complex when extended to whole metabolism, because the corresponding metabolomics must include all molecules as they affect not only metabolism, but also signaling and gene regulation. Although metabolomics should remain an integrated approach by itself, its complexity requires analogous integrated approaches focused on its components such as glycomics and lipidomics. The term lipidomics has just emerged in the literature [1,2], but needs a clear definition. It can be defined as ‘‘the full characterization of lipid molecular species and of their biological roles with respect to expression of proteins involved in lipid metabolism and function, including gene regulation’’ [3]. As a matter of fact, the ‘‘Research Group on Lipids and Lipoproteins’’ (GERLI) of the French Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (SFBBM) has contributed to this definition with its 2003 Annual Congress, entitled ‘‘Lipidomics: Molecular Diversity and Physiopathologies’’ (http://www.gerli.com). Full identification of lipids in living organisms is far from being achieved as new lipid structures even from mammalian tissues are constantly being elucidated. In the context of cells and organisms, lipids contribute to the dynamics of biological membranes, to energy storage and expenditure, and to conveying messages at all cellular levels, including the nucleus. Consequently, multidisciplinary approaches are needed to gain insight into in vivo functions of lipids both in normal and pathological states. These should include:
Mapping of the lipid molecular species, especially by high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS). This requires improvement of efficiency and, possibly, searching for a chip-type technology. The use of physico-chemical methods for modeling and understanding lipid – protein interaction, especially in lipid microdomains of biological membranes. This is largely based on chemical strategies for the synthesis of specific lipids, analogs and probes. 1388-1981/$ - see front matter D 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.bbalip.2003.11.002
In the frame of functional genomics identifying the network of lipid and non-lipid mediators, which interact within the metabolome. This is to integrate lipidomics and proteomics for a comprehensive view of homeostasis and functional disorders.
Timely enough, in the United States the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) very recently announced a $ 35-million grant to fund a huge 5-year collaborative project, entitled ‘‘Lipid metabolites and pathways strategy‘‘ (LIPID MAPS, http://www.lipidmaps.org). The research consortium is led by Edward Dennis (former editor for this BBA section), who formulated ‘‘Lipids are in many ways the most important of the biomolecules because they are the ultimate controllers and regulators of our bodily processes; they are key to signaling events in cells’’ [4]. To achieve all this, multidisciplinarity will be the salient feature of lipidomics and will aid to grasp the full dimension of the role of lipids in the physiology and pathophysiology of cells and organisms. BBA welcomes papers in this area. References [1] J.F. Wilson, Long-suffering lipids gain respect, The Scientist 17 (5) (2003). [2] X. Han, R.W. Gross, Global analyses of cellular lipidomes directly from crude extracts of biological samples by ESI mass spectrometry: a bridge to lipidomics, J. Lipid Res. 44 (2003) 1071 – 1079. [3] F. Spener, M. Lagarde, A. Ge´loe¨n, M. Record, What is lipidomics? Eur. J. Lipid Sci. Technol. 105 (2003) 481 – 482. [4] D. Martindale, A large look at lipids—major grant will fund team effort to characterize human lipidome, The Scientist 17 (15) (2003).
Michel Lagarde Alain Ge´loe¨n Villeurbanne, France Michel Record Toulouse, France Dennis Vance Edmonton, Canada Fritz Spener Department of Biochemistry, University of Mu¨nster, Wilhelm-Klemm-Str. 2, 48149, Mu¨nster, Germany Tel.: +49-251-83-33100; fax: +49-251-83-32132 E-mail address: [email protected]