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Organ-Specific Distributions of Lysophosphatidylcholine and Triacylglycerol in Mouse Embryo

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Lipids

Abstract

Imaging mass spectrometry (IMS) has been developed as a method for determining and visualizing the distribution of proteins and lipids across sections of dissected tissue. Although lipids play an important role in mammal development, their detailed distributions have not been analyzed by conventional methods. In this study, we tried to determine and visualize lysophosphatidylcholine (LysoPtdCho) and triacylglycerol (TAG) in a mouse embryo by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) hybrid quadrupole time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometer. Many peaks were detected from a raster scan of the whole embryonic sections. The peaks at m/z 496.33, 524.36, 879.72, 881.74, and 921.74 were identified by MS/MS analyses as [LysoPtdCho (16:0) + H]+, [LysoPtdCho (18:0) + H]+, [TAG (16:0/18:2/18:1) + Na]+, [TAG (16:0/18:1/18:1) + Na]+, and [TAG (16:0/20:3/18:1) + K]+, respectively. The ion images constructed from the peaks revealed that LysoPtdCho were distributed throughout the body and TAGs were distributed around the brown adipose tissue and in the liver at embryo day 17.5. Thus, IMS system based on MALDI hybrid quadrupole TOF MS revealed the distribution of LysoPtdCho and, more importantly, the organ-specific distribution of TAGs in the embryonic stages of mammals for the first time. We can conclude that this technique enables us to analyze the roles of various lipids during embryogenesis and gives insight for lipid research.

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Abbreviations

ARA:

Arachidonic acid

Da:

Dalton

DHA:

Docosahexaenoic acid

DHB:

2,5-Dihydroxybenzoic acid

H&E:

Hematoxylin and eosin

IMS:

Imaging mass spectrometry

ITO:

Indium-tin-oxide

LPA:

Lysophosphatidic acid

LysoPtdCho:

Lysophosphatidylcholine

LPLD:

Lysophospholipase D

MALDI:

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization

MW:

Molecular weight

NL:

Neutral loss

OCT:

Optimal cutting temperature

PtdCho:

Phosphatidylcholine

PL:

Phospholipid

PLA2:

Phospholipase A2

PUFA:

Polyunsaturated fatty acid

SM:

Sphingomyelin

TAG:

Triacylglycerol

TFA:

Trifluoroacetic acid

TOF:

Time of flight

TRPV:

Transient receptor potential vanilloid

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Masako Suzuki (Hamamatsu University School of Medicine) for technical support with the operation of the QSTAR XL system. This work was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for SENTAN from the Japan Science and Technology Agency (to M.S.) and a Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists B (to T.H.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular Anatomy, Molecular Imaging Frontier Research Center, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, 1-20-1 Handayama, Higashi-ku, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, 431-3192, Japan

    Takahiro Hayasaka, Naoko Goto-Inoue, Nobuhiro Zaima, Yoshishige Kimura & Mitsutoshi Setou

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  1. Takahiro Hayasaka
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  2. Naoko Goto-Inoue
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  3. Nobuhiro Zaima
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  4. Yoshishige Kimura
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  5. Mitsutoshi Setou
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Correspondence to Mitsutoshi Setou.

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Hayasaka, T., Goto-Inoue, N., Zaima, N. et al. Organ-Specific Distributions of Lysophosphatidylcholine and Triacylglycerol in Mouse Embryo. Lipids 44, 837–848 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11745-009-3331-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11745-009-3331-5

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