Metabolomics / Lipidomics

A high throughput lipidomics approach enables the analysis of approximately 800 lipid species from over 35 lipid classes and subclasses. Stable isotope internal standards are used to provide semi-quantitative data on each lipid species.

Expertise

Study design
Staff can advise on appropriate experimental design to minimise variance across the experiment and maximise statistical power. Experiments can include anywhere from 20 to over 5000 samples. The appropriate use of quality control samples provides standardisation across and between analytical runs.

Lipid extraction
Standard operating procedures have been developed for lipid extraction from biological fluids, cells and tissues that provide high recoveries and reproducibility.

Liquid chromatography mass spectrometry
Experienced research staff maintain and run the mass spectrometers for the analysis of in-house and external samples.

Data extraction and analysis
Data processing is performed on specialised software available within the Metabolomics laboratory. Analysis of lipidomic data presents some specific challenges. Advice and support can be provided for subsequent statistical analysis with the established lipidomic workflow utilising open-source R software to enable transparency for publication. These analyses can extend to multivariate modelling utilising machine learning approaches within a cross validation framework to create and evaluate classification or prediction models.

Equipment

Agilent 1290 series HPLC system coupled to and Agilent 6495C electrospray ionisation triple quadrapole mass spectrometer

Access and Contact

The metabolomics platform is available via collaborative research and training can be provided to collaborating laboratories. For general research enquiries contact:

Prof Peter Meikle
Head, Metabolomics
Baker Institute
Peter.meikle@baker.edu.au
Metabolomics research platform