Clinical lipidomics

We apply shotgun mass spectrometry technology to analyze the lipidome of samples obtained from patients with various health conditions (spreading from healthy to cancer). Our translational clinical lipidomics projects focus on the full lipidome quantification of the following organs and tissues:

• Dr. Yuting Wang studies colorectal cancer (CRC). CRC is one of the most common cancers worldwide. Solid cancers show broad metabolic alterations, which contribute to sustained tumor proliferation. To understand the lipid metabolism in CRC, we performed a comprehensive and quantitative shotgun lipidomics using CRC tissue and matched adjacent normal tissue from the same CRC patients. This project is performed in collaboration with Dr. Sebastian Zeissig from the Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden (Zeissig lab).
• Dr. Oskar Knittlefelder studies pancreas. To understand the metabolic changes in pancreatic islets of diabetic patients (from healthy to diseased) we apply our established shotgun LCM (link to project page). Using the inherent autofluorescene of human pancreatic islets we will decipher changes in the lipidome. This project is performed in collaboration with Dr. Michele Solimena from the Paul Langerhans Institute in Dresden (Solimena Lab).
• Dr. Olga Vvedenskaya and Dr. Oskar Knittelfelder study liver pathological conditions, such as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). NAFLD is a liver disease characterized by the lipid accumulation in hepatocytes, and the additional fibrotic changes happen during NASH. We aim to investigate the role of genetic risk markers of NAFLD in liver lipid metabolism by performing liver lipidome profiling of relatively large cohort of patients (~350). Establishing clinically-relevant reference values (in moles) of the healthy liver lipidome, its changes in obese patients, and patients with NAFLD and NASH is an essential part of translational aspect of current work. This project is performed in collaboration with Dr. Jochen Hampe from the University Hospital in Dresden, Dr. Alessandra Palladini and Dr. Uenal Coskun from Paul Langerhans Institute in Dresden, Dr. Judith Wodke and Dr. Edda Klipp from Humboldt University in Berlin, Tim Rose and Dr. Josch Pauling from Technical University in Munich (Hample lab, Coskun lab, Klipp lab, Pauling lab and LiSyM.
• We also systematically studied the plasma lipidome composition of healthy young individuals and found that the concentration of ca 50% out of 281 quantified molecules is significantly different between male and female cohorts ('Gender, Contraceptives and Individual Metabolic Predisposition Shape a Healthy Plasma Lipidome.').