Identification of lipids is performed by exact mass, retention time and isotopic distribution of a compound, resulting in very high identification certainty (Figure 5). Originally designed for an FT-ICR-MS instrument, the software is highly dependent on exact mass and works best at a resolution of 100,000 or more. Nevertheless, it was also shown to perform well with quadrupole TOF data. A desirable expansion of the program would be automatic processing of MS/MS data acquired in data-dependent fashion on the most

abundant m/z values of each high resolution full scan spectrum. Quantitation of lipids is performed with sets of internal standards covering the whole elution range of the respective lipid class. Subsequently the software performs calculations Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical of Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical either the mean or the median intensity of all internal standards. This procedure allows for compensation of internal standard intensity fluctuations arising from variable ion suppression effects in each elution profile. Figure 5 3D plot (m/z, retention time, intensity) of high resolution LTQ-FT data generated by Lipid Data Analyzer. Depicted are TG 56:1 and TG 56:2, including their isotopic distribution. Unambiguous identification

of elemental composition is accomplished by … 6. Conclusions Although various experimental platforms and approaches are currently established, lipidomic analysis still remains a challenge for analytical Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical chemists and bioinformaticians alike. The biggest Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical issue in the years to come will be standardization of data acquisition and data processing. Unlike genomic or proteomic protocols, lipidomics still stays highly diversified in instrumentation and the degree of information to be deduced from mass spectrometric data. In this respect, a standardized shorthand lipid nomenclature will be Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical needed for database development.

Furthermore, data processing is highly dependent on customized software solutions, although some promising software tools have been developed recently. Despite these challenges, it can be expected that mass spectrometry-based lipidomics will constantly develop into a high throughput technology and advance our understanding of molecular biological processes with increasing impact. Ketanserin Acknowledgments This work was carried out within the LipidomicNet project, supported by Grant No. 202272 from the 7th Framework Programme of the European Union. Conflict of Interest Conflict of Interest The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a common disorder with a prevalence of 4.7% (4.4% to 5.0%) worldwide,1 and a 7% prevalence in the United States.2 It is a disorder that affects a patient’s ability to work and function in society; it leads to increased morbidity and consequently increased use of health resources. In a World Health Organization study from 2004, it ranked third in worldwide contribution to Selleck RAD001 disease burden and first in high-income countries for individuals under 60 years of age.