Diacylglycerols (DAGs) are important lipid intermediates in cellular trafficking and signaling. Their concentrations are altered in diabetes, cancer, and other disease states. Quantification of DAGs in biological samples may provide critical information to uncover molecular mechanisms leading to various cellular functional disorders. Recent advances in lipidomics using mass spectrometry have greatly accelerated global lipid analysis and quantification. Quantification of DAGs by electrospray mass spectrometry (ESI/MS), however, is challenged by the absence of a permanent charge on the molecule, its low proton affinity and acidity, and its low abundance under normal biological conditions. We describe here the introduction of a quaternary ammonium cation to DAG molecules, using N-chlorobetainyl chloride, to afford a derivatized DAG that gives 2 orders of magnitude higher signal intensities than their underivatized sodium adducts. A linear calibration curve in which peak intensity ratios are plotted versus molar ratios can be achieved by using ESI/MS with dilauroyl glycerol as the internal standard. Employing this new approach to this analyte, we found a 9-fold increase of total DAGs in the livers of obese db/db mice as compared to their heterozygous lean controls. This proven strategy can be used to detect and quantify DAG molecular species from biological samples using ESI/MS after one-step derivatization.
二酰
甘油(
DAGs)是细胞运输和信号传递过程中的重要脂质中间体。在糖尿病、癌症和其他疾病状态下,它们的浓度会发生变化。
生物样本中
DAGs 的定量可为揭示导致各种细胞功能紊乱的分子机制提供重要信息。利用质谱技术进行脂质组学研究的最新进展大大加快了全球脂质分析和定量的速度。然而,电喷雾质谱法(ESI/MS)对
DAGs 的定量却面临挑战,因为
DAGs 分子不带永久电荷,质子亲和力和酸性较低,而且在正常
生物条件下丰度较低。在此,我们介绍了利用 N-
氯代乙酰胺酰
氯在
DAG 分子中引入季
铵盐阳离子,从而得到衍生化
DAG 的方法,其信号强度比未充分衍生化的
钠加合物高出两个数量级。使用 ESI/MS,以二月桂酰
甘油为内标,可以绘制出峰值强度比与摩尔比的线性校准曲线。采用这种新方法检测这种分析物时,我们发现肥胖 db/db 小鼠肝脏中的
DAG 总量比杂合瘦对照组增加了 9 倍。这种行之有效的策略可用于在一步衍生化后使用 ESI/MS 检测和量化
生物样本中的
DAG 分子物种。