Abstract
Phospholipids play important roles, not only as membranous components, but also as signaling molecules concerning many cellular events. To elucidate the function of phospholipids, it is necessary to analyze their classes, subclasses, and molecular species.
Recently, in the analysis of phospholipids, the application of mass spectrometry (MS) has become increasingly popular. Among the several methods of ionization, electrospray ionization (ESI) and matrix assisted lazer desorption/ionization (MALDI) seem to be the most moderate methods. Since there are several kinds of mass spectrometer, the model of MS suitable for the own purpose should be selected.
Also, there are several effective methods for MS analysis of lipid. ESIMS enables rapid and sensitive analyses of phospholipids by direct connection with liquid chromatography (LC-MS). In addition to, ESIMS/MS analysis is necessary for more detailed annotation of each molecular species. In this review, we explain the feature of mass spectrometers (ex. triple quadrupole, quadrupole-TOF), and the application of MS for lipid analysis.
