Biochemistry And Methodology Of Lipids

This book presents a compendium of methodologies for the study of membrane lipids, varying from traditional lab bench experimentation to computer simulation and theoretical models. The volume provides a comprehensive set of techniques for studying membrane lipids with a strong biophysical emphasis. It compares the various available techniques including the pros and cons as seen by the experts.

This is the fourth volume of an occasional series of review volumes dealing with aspects of lipid methodology. As with the first three volumes, topics have been selected that have been developing rapidly in recent years and have some importance to lipid analysis. The authors are all leading international experts.Topics covered include: analysis of plant lipoxygenase metabolites, preparative high-performance liquid chromatography of lipids, structural analysis of fatty acids, and analysis of stable isotopes in lipids, among others.

Since the publication of the first edition of this successful and popular book in 1970, the subject of lipid biochemistry has evolved greatly and this fifth up-to-date and comprehensive edition includes much new and exciting information. Lipid Biochemistry, fifth edition has been largely re-written in a user-friendly way, with chapters containing special interest topic boxes, summary points and lists of suggested reading, further enhancing the accessibility and readability of this excellent text. Contents include abbreviations and definitions used in the study of lipids, routine analytical methods, fatty acid structure and metabolism, dietary lipids and lipids as energy stores, lipid transport, lipids in cellular structures and the metabolism of structural lipids. The book provides a most comprehensive treatment of the subject, making it essential reading for all those working with or studying lipids. Upper level students of biochemistry, biology, clinical subjects, nutrition and food science will find the contents of this book invaluable as a study aid, as will postgraduates specializing in the topics covered in the book. Professionals working in research in academia and industry, including personnel involved in food and nutrition research, new product formulation, special diet formulation (including nutraceuticals and functional foods) and other clinical aspects will find a vast wealth of information within the book's pages. Michael Gurr was a Visiting Professor in Human Nutrition at the University of Reading, UK and at Oxford Brookes University, UK. John Harwood is a Professor of Biochemistry at the School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, UK. Keith Frayn is a Professor of Human Metabolism at the Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism, University of Oxford, UK.

Lipids can usually be extracted easily from tissues by making use of their hydrophobic characteristics. However, such extractions yield a complex mixture of different lipid classes which have to be purified further for quantitative analysis. Moreover, the crude lipid extract will be contami nated by other hydrophobic molecules, e.g. by intrinsic membrane proteins. Of the various types of separation processes, thin layer and column chromatography are most useful for intact lipids. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is also rapidly becoming more popular, especially for the fractionation of molecular species of a given lipid class. The most powerful tool for quantitation of the majority of lipids is gas liquid chromatography (GLC). The method is very sensitive and, if adapted with capillary columns, can provide information with regard to such subtle features as the position or configuration of substitutions along acyl chains. By coupling GLC or HPLC to a radioactivity detector, then the techniques are also very useful for metabolic measurements. Although research laboratories use generally sophisticated analytical methods such as GLC to analyse and quantify lipid samples, chemical derivatie: ations are often used in hospitals. For these methods, the lipid samples are derivatized to yield a product which can be measured simply and accurately-usually by colour. Thus, total triacylglycerol, cholesterol or phospholipid-phosphorus can be quantitated conveniently without bothering with the extra information of molecular species, etc. which might be determined by more thorough analyses. REFERENCES Christie, w.w. (1982) Lipid Analysis, 2nd edn, Pergamon Press, Oxford."

Abstract: A reference text by lipid researchers describes 8 methodological areas of lipid research, combining a background concerning the development and applications of methods in each area with a fairly detailed methodology. Theareas of lipid research for which methods are described include lipid and lipoprotein analysis, lipid absorption, and some of the lipid and lipoprotein metabolizing enzymes. Specific topics include: the analysis of cholesterol, triglycerides, phospholipids, and other lipids in tissues; the positional analysis of fatty acids on glycerolipids; analysis of plasma lipoproteins; preparative lipoprotein fractionation methods; measurements of lipid absorption and lipoprotein synthesis in clinical and experimental settings;and the analysis of important lipid enzymes, covering cholesterol synthesis and degradation, fatty acid synthesis,and heparin-releaseable triacylglycerol lipases. (wz).

Lipids can usually be extracted easily from tissues by making use of their hydrophobic characteristics. However, such extractions yield a complex mixture of different lipid classes which have to be purified further for quantitative analysis. Moreover, the crude lipid extract will be contami nated by other hydrophobic molecules, e.g. by intrinsic membrane proteins. Of the various types of separation processes, thin layer and column chromatography are most useful for intact lipids. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is also rapidly becoming more popular, especially for the fractionation of molecular species of a given lipid class. The most powerful tool for quantitation of the majority of lipids is gas liquid chromatography (GLC). The method is very sensitive and, if adapted with capillary columns, can provide information with regard to such subtle features as the position or configuration of substitutions along acyl chains. By coupling GLC or HPLC to a radioactivity detector, then the techniques are also very useful for metabolic measurements. Although research laboratories use generally sophisticated analytical methods such as GLC to analyse and quantify lipid samples, chemical derivatie:ations are often used in hospitals. For these methods, the lipid samples are derivatized to yield a product which can be measured simply and accurately-usually by colour. Thus, total triacylglycerol, cholesterol or phospholipid-phosphorus can be quantitated conveniently without bothering with the extra information of molecular species, etc. which might be determined by more thorough analyses. REFERENCES Christie, w.w. (1982) Lipid Analysis, 2nd edn, Pergamon Press, Oxford.

This volume in the well-established Methods in Enzymology series features methods for the study of lipids using mass spectrometry techniques. Articles in this volume cover topics such as Qualitative Analysis and Quantitative Assessment of Changes in Neutral Glycerol Lipid Molecular Species within Cells; Glycerophospholipid identification and quantitation by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry; Detection and Quantitation of Eicosanoids via High Performance Liquid Chromatography/Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry; Structure-specific, quantitative methods for "lipidomic" analysis of sphingolipids by tandem mass spectrometry; Analysis of Ubiquinones, Dolichols and Dolichol Diphosphate-Oligosaccharides by Liquid Chromatography Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry; Extraction and Analysis of Sterols in Biological Matrices by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry; The Lipid Maps Initiative in Lipidomics; Basic analytical systems for lipidomics by mass spectrometry in Japan; The European Lipidomics Initiative Enabling technologies; Lipidomic analysis of Signaling Pathways; Bioinformatics for Lipidomics; Mediator Lipidomics: Search Algorithms for Eicosanoids, Resolvins and Protectins; A guide to biochemical systems modeling of sphingolipids for the biochemist; and Quantitation and Standardization of Lipid Internal Standards for Mass Spectroscopy.