Quantification of Cellular Glycosphingolipids by Metabolic Labeling with Isotope-labeled Serine Plus Serine Inhibitor

摘要

Endogenous glycosphingolipids have been successfully labeled with heavy isotopes by incubating cells with "heavy" serine. Incorporation of heavy isotopes into glycosphingolipids was verified by FT-ICR MS and the characteristic isotopic distribution of "heavy" glycosphingolipids can help to identify and characterize novel glycosphingolipids. The current metabolic labeling method might be able to trace specific biosynthetic pathway (Figure 3). We were able to quantify previously reported qualitative changes in glycosphingolipid levels during glioma stem cell phenotypic differentiation.