Glycerophospholipids Analysis by Two-Dimensional Liquid Chromatography Coupled with a Triple Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer

Glycerophospholipids (GPLs) are the major component of biological membranes. They can not only act as a barrier from the external environment, but can also play a key role in a variety of biological processes including membrane trafficking and signal transduction. Thus, analysis of GPLs is one of the most important studies in the metabolomics field. Although reversed phase (RP) HPLC coupled with electrospray ionization (ESI) MS is an effective strategy for lipidomics, there is still room for further improvement of the analytical methods. One drawback to performing comprehensive identification and precise quantification of minor species of GPLs is ion suppression by major components. To solve this problem, we established a new strategy using two-dimensional liquid chromatography (2D-LC) coupled with ESI-MS/MS (2D-LC-ESIMS/MS).