ABSTRACT
Chapter 2 Lipidomics studies cellular lipids with targeted or untargeted approaches. Lipids play critical roles in membrane structure, energy storage, and signal transduction. The plasma membrane, a 30 Å hydrophobic film, serves as a margin between the life and death of cells. Lipids are an indispensable nutrient for early childhood development. However, malnutrition in childhood promotes dysfunction of lipid metabolism and is associated with stunting, wasting, and obesity. On the other hand, proliferating cancer cells reprogram cellular lipid metabolism for membrane biogenesis, energy production, and oncogenic signaling. Thus, lipid biology has become an active research area to better understand malnutrition and cancer biology and its associated therapeutic opportunities. Emerging research based on High Resolution Mass Spectrometry (HRMS) and its aligned technologies has begun to dissect the role of lipidomes in children malnutrition and cancer and their importance in intricate events relevant to disease states that utilize them for pathogenesis. This chapter describes the potential of HRMS and its aligned technologies for elucidating lipids, and the recent contribution of lipid research to childhood malnutrition and cancer cell biology.
