The Metabolomics Unit is a core facility that provides comprehensive lipidomics and metabolomics capabilities to collaborators at LMU and through external partnerships. Its research is focused on defining disease biomarkers and identifying novel therapeutic targets across a range of clinical disorders.
Core Laboratory Capabilities:
The Metabolomics Unit houses a high-resolution mass spectrometric lipidomics platform capable of interrogating over 30,000 unique lipids across 188 lipid families. In addition, the unit is developing a targeted metabolomics platform to further expand its analytical capabilities.
Research Projects:
Microbial Lipid Biomarkers - Identification and validation of unique microbial lipid biomarkers in clinical samples, including those from Gram-positive bacteria, Gram-negative bacteria, and fungi. These studies also evaluate microbial effects on the host lipidome, as demonstrated in analyses of immune activation in equine leptospirosis and Leptospira-vaccinated horses.
Bacterial Biofilm Transformation - Investigation of lipid alterations associated with the transition of bacteria from planktonic to biofilm states.
Neuronal Dysfunction in Cognitive and Psychiatric Disorders - Examination of lipid alterations, including neutral glycerolipids in cognitive disorders and N-acyl-phosphatidylserines in schizophrenia.
Oncology Biomarker Discovery – Identification of lipid biomarkers in cancer, e.g., our ongoing collaborative study with the Morris foundation to evaluate serum from Golden Retrievers with hemangiosarcoma.
Equine Asthma - Evaluation of lipid biomarkers in asthmatic horses.
Climate Change Biomarkers – Monitoring the lipidome of copepods as indicators of climate change effects on this critical oceanic biomass.
FAHFA Lipids - Study of very-long-chain fatty acyls of hydroxy fatty acids (FAHFAs) to elucidate their diverse biological functions. Our lab was the first to demonstrate the presence of these complex lipid biosurfactants in equine sperm and amniotic fluid.
VLCDCA Lipids - Characterization of a novel family of very-long-chain dicarboxylic acids (VLCDCAs) with anti-inflammatory and anti-proliferative properties, and exploration of their potential in modulating neuroinflammation.
