In Silico-Predicted Dynamic Oxlipidomics MS/MS Library: High-Throughput Discovery and Characterization of Unknown Oxidized Lipids

Anal Chem. 2024 Feb 6;96(5):2008-2021. doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.3c04459. Epub 2024 Jan 26.

Abstract

Nontargeted lipidomics using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry can detect thousands of molecules in biological samples. However, the annotation of unknown oxidized lipids is limited to the structures present in libraries, restricting the analysis and interpretation of experimental data. Here, we describe Doxlipid, a computational tool for oxidized lipid annotation that predicts a dynamic MS/MS library for every experiment. Doxlipid integrates three key simulation algorithms to predict libraries and covers 32 subclasses of oxidized lipids from the three main classes. In the evaluation, Doxlipid achieves very high prediction and characterization performance and outperforms the current oxidized lipid annotation methods. Doxlipid, combined with a molecular network, further annotates unknown chemical analogs in the same reaction or pathway. We demonstrate the broad utility of Doxlipid by analyzing oxidized lipids in ferroptosis hepatocellular carcinoma, tissue samples, and other biological samples, substantially advancing the discovery of biological pathways at the trace oxidized lipid level.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Algorithms
  • Chromatography, Liquid / methods
  • Computer Simulation
  • Lipids* / analysis
  • Tandem Mass Spectrometry* / methods

Substances

  • Lipids