You are here:
LIPOMICS, AN IMPORTANT COMPONENT OF METABOLOMICS, AND POSSIBLE USE IN TOXICOLOGY STUDIES
Citation:
Madden, M. C. LIPOMICS, AN IMPORTANT COMPONENT OF METABOLOMICS, AND POSSIBLE USE IN TOXICOLOGY STUDIES. Presented at Society of Toxicology Meeting, Baltimore, MD, March 21-25, 2004.
Description:
Metabolites of endogenous biochemical substances can be considered to represent the ultimate organ and cellular responses to toxicants or other changes in an organism's environment. An important fraction of these endogenously produced metabolites are lipids; the comprehensive study of the production of these lipids is termed lipomics or liponomics. Lipids of various chemical classes have been implicated in mediating human diseases in the lung, cardiovascular, brain, and other organ systems. The emphasis of this session will be to provide an overview of strategies for quantifying lipids and key lipid metabolic steps, and subsequently organizing the resulting data into more usable and understandable formats. A brief overview of the biological relevance of lipids will initiate the session. A presentation on lipid chemistry and analytical chemistry strategies (along with the associated strengths and shortcomings) will follow in order to provide the audience with insights on some of the technologies needed to perform the first step involved in lipomics. Additional presentations will show: comprehensive lipid analyses (>400 lipids) of mice treated with the anti-hyperlipidemic agent rosiglitazone and subsequent data manipulation into a informative database; a strategy to examine the lipid profile in human and animal models using a combination of lipomics and select, key genomic measurements; alterations of lung lipids collected in breath condensate from humans and animals models (mice, pigs) of lung disease; and using lipomics to monitor microbial biomass and composition for use in environmental remediation strategies, microbial ecology studies, and minimizing microbial populations in occupational settings. Use of lipomics, in combination with proteomics and genomics, can provide a more complete view of cellular responses. Monitoring of these responses can be used to assist in optimizing drug therapies, examining effects from toxicant exposures, determining the influence of nutrition on responses, and screening of the environment for microbial populations. [This abstract may not represent official EPA policy.]