Simultaneous multiplexed quantification and C=C localization of fatty acids with LC-MS/MS using i(s)under-barobaric m(u)under-barltiplex rea(g)under-barents for c(a)under-barrbonyl-containing compound (SUGAR) tags and C=C epoxidation

Fatty acids (FAs) possess highly diverse structures and can be divided into saturated and unsaturated classes. For unsaturated FAs, both the numbers and positions of carbon-carbon double bond (C=C) determine their biological functions. Abnormal levels of FA isomers have been reported to be involved in various disease development, such as cancer. Despite numerous advances in lipidomics, simultaneous quantifying and pinpointing C=C bond positions in a high-throughput manner remains a challenge. Here we conducted epoxidation of C=C bonds of unsaturated FAs followed by the conjugation with isobaric SUGAR tags. With the assistance of LC-MS, FA isomers with the same masses were separated on the C18 column and individually subjected to MS/MS fragmentation. Upon higher-energy collisional dissociation, not only reporter ions for multiplexed quantification but also diagnostic ions for C=C localization were generated at the same time, allowing quantitative analyses of different unsaturated FA isomers in samples. The performance of this approach including epoxidation, labeling efficiencies, quantitation accuracy, and capability to pinpoint C=C bond position were evaluated. To evaluate our method, free FA extracts from healthy human serum were used to demonstrate the feasibility of this method for complex sample analysis. Finally, this method was also applied to investigate the changes of unsaturated FA isomers between heathy human and Alzheimer's disease (AD) patient serum.

Automated summary

This study developed a high-throughput analysis method for simultaneous quantification and determination of the positions of carbon-carbon double bonds (C=C) in unsaturated fatty acids (FAs). The method involved epoxidation and labeling, combined with liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS), to achieve quantitative and positional analysis of different unsaturated FA isomers. The method demonstrated excellent performance in complex sample analysis.