The mission of the Lipidomics Shared Resource (LSR) is to provide cost-effective advanced methodology, state-of-the-art instrumentation, and expertise in the synthesis and analysis of bioactive lipids to Hollings Can- cer Center (HCC) members. The scientific goal of the LSR is to provide resources for studying lipid metabolism and signaling in cancer, for identifying bioactive lipids and their role in tumor cell biology, and for discovering and evaluating drugs that target lipid metabolic processes. By providing deep exploratory as well as high throughput lipidomic options to analyze cancer cells and tissues, combined with educational workshops, the LSR fosters interactions among basic, clinical and population scientists at HCC. To remain at the leading edge of an evolving field, since the last review, the LSR expanded services by investing in new equipment (Thermo TSQ-50003, SCIEX Q-Trap triple quadrupole/ion trap, Advion TriVersa Nanomat) and transferring equipment from the Cell & Molecular Imaging Shared Resource to LSR, adding MALDI imaging services to LSR (Bruker Faltonics AutoFlex III linear MALDI, and AutoFLexIII MALDI TOF-TOF). During the current cycle, the LSR di- rectly supported 45 cancer-related publications, three team science projects, multiple internally funded team- based projects, three individual cancer grants, two translational studies, and one phase 1 clinical trial. Under the leadership of Besim Ogretmen, PhD, the LSR has grown to become a nationally- and internationally-recog- nized scientific resource with novel sophisticated methods for measurement and analysis of bioactive lipid mol- ecules relevant to cancer initiation and progression. Ogretmen is a national leader in lipid biology with a partic- ular focus on sphingolipids, including glycosphingolipids. The LSR has integrated MALDI imaging capability for direct tissue analysis of sphingolipid species in tissues, drug distribution in tumor xenograft tissue and organs (brain, kidney, liver), and structure confirmation of drug or metabolite of interest by collision-induced fragmenta- tion. Thus, by combining mass spectrometry and MALDI imaging, this resource not only quantifies sphin- golipids in tissues, but can also provide information about their cellular location and distribution in tissues. The LSR is well poised to advance and support important emerging scientific disciplines in cancer research to HCC members and the broader scientific community.
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