A novel method for analysis of diversities in ceramides and glycosphingolipids by MALDI-TOFMS and MS2 equipped with high-enegy CID

摘要

Ceramides are N-acylated long-chain bases (LCBs) and basic components of sphingolipids. They play important roles in cell signaling for differentiation, growth and apoptosis. Usually a ceramide is composed of an octadeca length of LCB, (4E)-sphingenine and a non-hydroxy fatty acid (NFA). However, they are more diverse than expected, in terms of i) alkyl-chain lengths in both fatty acids and LCBs, ii) degrees of hydroxylation and, iii) numbers and positions of double bonds, and these diversities are critically related to their biological activities. In order to analyze such diversities, we elucidated a method for analysis of ceramides using MALDI-TOFMS and MS/MS equipped with high-energy CID. Furthermore we expanded this method into glycosphingolipids (GSLs) for detail analysis of ceramide-species.