Lipidomic Analysis of Eicosanoid Dynamics in Inflammation and Disease

Eicosanoids begin as a single poly-unsaturated fatty acid, arachidonic acid. Yet from this simple origin, hundreds of bioactive signaling molecules can be created, often within minutes of receiving an initiation signal. Many of these bioactive lipids have a functional partner that generates an opposing effect and helps prevent any one pathway from signaling uncontrollably in the body. For this reason, we have adapted liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry into a lipidomic platform that can be employed to study eicosanoid signaling in a comprehensive manner. The overarching goal of such an approach is to elucidate the role of eicosanoids in physiology and disease at the cellular and organismal level, in hopes of identifying better targets for pharmaceutical intervention.