Lipid Signatures and Inter-Cellular Heterogeneity of Naı̈ve and Lipopolysaccharide-Stimulated Human Microglia-like Cells

Anal Chem. 2023 Aug 8;95(31):11672-11679. doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.3c01533. Epub 2023 Jul 28.

Abstract

Microglia are non-neuronal cells, which reside in the central nervous system and are known to play an important role in health and disease. We investigated the lipidomic phenotypes of human naı̈ve and stimulated microglia-like cells by atmospheric-pressure scanning microprobe matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry imaging (AP-SMALDI MSI). With lateral resolutions between 5 and 1.5 μm pixel size, we were able to chart lipid compositions of individual cells, enabling differentiation of cell lines and stimulation conditions. This allowed us to reveal local lipid heterogeneities in naı̈ve and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated cells. We were able to identify individual cells with elevated triglyceride (TG) levels and could show that the number of these TG-enriched cells increased with LPS stimulation as a hallmark for a proinflammatory phenotype. Additionally, the observed local abundance alterations of specific phosphatidylinositols (PIs) indicate a cell specific regulation of the PI metabolism.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Cell Differentiation
  • Humans
  • Lipopolysaccharides* / pharmacology
  • Microglia*
  • Phosphatidylinositols
  • Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization / methods

Substances

  • Lipopolysaccharides
  • Phosphatidylinositols