Approaches to Lipid Analysis

Historically, lipids have been defined in many ways, but at the most elementary level, they are biologically derived molecules soluble in organic solvents. Lipid species include chemical entities that are among the fundamental building blocks of life. The chemical and structural heterogeneity of lipids contributes to innumerable biochemical and biophysical processes and thereby presents challenges in analysis. Advances in chromatography, mass spectrometry and computational biology have enabled the progression of lipidomics within the larger field of analytical chemistry. Advancements in mass spectrometry-based lipid analysis have contributed to remarkable discoveries in both basic and translational research and any well-conducted study of biological processes involving lipids is now expected to include lipidomic analysis. In this chapter we introduce readers to the basic concepts of identification and measurements of lipid species that constitute the modern field of lipidomics.