Changes of phospholipid composition within the dystrophic muscle by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry and mass spectrometry imaging

Eur. J. Mass Spectrom. 10, 657–664 (2004)
DOI: 10.1255/ejms.671

Changes of phospholipid composition within the dystrophic muscle by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry and mass spectrometry imaging

David Touboul,^a Hélène Piednoël,^a Vincent Voisin,^b Sabine De La Porte,^b Alain Brunelle,^a Frédéric Halgand^a*and Olivier Laprévote^a
^aLaboratoire de Spectrométrie de Masse, Institut de Chimie des Substances Naturelles, CNRS, 1 Avenue de la Terrasse, F91198 Gif sur Yvette Cedex, France. E-mail: halgand@icsn.cnrs-gif.fr
^bLaboratoire de Neurobiologie Cellulaire et Moléculaire, Institut de Neurobiologie Alfred Fessard, CNRS, 1 Avenue de la Terrasse, F91198 Gif sur Yvette Cedex, France

ABSTRACT:

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a neuromuscular disease linked to the lack of the dystrophin, a submembrane protein, leading to muscle weakness and associated with a defect of the lipid metabolism. A study of the fatty acid composition of glycerophosphatidylcholines by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-ToF-MS) and tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) enabled us to characterize a change of the lipid composition of dystrophic cells at the time of the differentiation. This modification has been used as a marker to identify with profiling and imaging MALDI-ToF MS regenerating areas in sections of an mdx mouse leg muscle. It is the first time that such a slight change in fatty acid composition has been observed directly on tissue slices using mass spectrometry. This approach will be useful in monitoring the treatment of muscular regeneration.

Keywords: Duchenne muscular dystrophy, glycerophosphatidylcholine, fatty acid, imaging mass spectrometry, MALDI-ToF

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