Lipidome-wide characterization of phosphatidylinositols and phosphatidylglycerols on CC location level

Phosphatidylglycerol (PG) and phosphatidylinositol (PI) are two essential classes of glycerophospholipids (GPs), playing versatile roles such as signalling messengers and lipid-protein interaction ligands in cell. Although a majority of PG and PI molecular species contain unsaturated fatty acyl chain(s), conventional tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) methods cannot discern isomers different in carbon-carbon double bond (CC) locations. In this work, we paired phosphate methylation with acetone Paternò–Büchi (PB) reaction, aiming to provide a solution for sensitive and structurally informative analysis of these two important classes of GPs down to the location of CC. A liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) workflow was established. Offline methylated PG or PI mixtures were subjected to hydrophilic interaction chromatographic separation, online acetone PB reaction, and MS/MS via collision-induced dissociation (CID) for CC location determination in positive ion mode. This method was sensitive, offering limit of identification at 5 nM for both PG and PI standards down to CC locations. On molecular species level, 49 PI and 31 PG were identified from bovine liver, while 61 PIs were identified from human plasma. This workflow also enabled ratiometric comparisons of CC location isomers (C18:1 Δ9 vs. Δ11) of a series of PIs from type 2 diabetes (T2D) plasma to that of normal plasma samples. PI 16:0_18:1 and PI 18:0_18:1 were found to exhibit significant changes in CC isomeric ratios between T2D and normal plasma samples. The above results demonstrate that the developed LC-PB-MS/MS workflow is applicable to different classes of lipids and compatible with other established lipid derivatization methods to achieve comprehensive lipid analysis. [Display omitted] •Phosphate methylation improved identification of PI and PG on C=C location level using an LC-PB-MS/MS workflow.•High coverage of PI and PG was achieved by applying this method to lipid extracts from bovine liver and human plasma.•C=C location isomers of PI 16:0_18:1 and PI 18:0_18:1 showed significant changes in plasma samples of T2D patients.