Lipotype performed lipid analysis of bacteria for future antimicrobial strategies

Henri Deda April 16, 2018

What happened

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a multi-drug resistant bacteria, and can cause serious illnesses such as pneumonia or sepsis syndromes. The publication from TU Braunschweig shows that, when grown under unaerobic biofilm conditions, the bacterium produces less of a protein, which binds specifically to the central hub of phospholipid metabolism.

With Lipotype shotgun lipidomics, a diverse response of Pseudomonas aeruginosa at the lipid head group and fatty acid level was demonstrated. This increased the susceptibility to a wide range of antibiotics which is important for the future development of new antimicrobial strategies.

Read the full publication

A phosphatidic acid-binding protein is important for lipid homeostasis and adaptation to anaerobic biofilm conditions in Pseudomonas aeruginosa – Biochemical Journal, 2018
Maike K Gronewald, Marco Massmig, Stefanie Hebecker, Linna Danne, Zofia Magnowska, Manfred Nimtz, Franz Narberhaus, Dieter Jahn, Dirk W Heinz, Lothar Jänsch, Jürgen Moser

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Publication, Academia

Obesity risk quantification: Lipidomic BMI better than traditional BMI

Henri Deda October 18, 2019

Obesity is a prime threat to human health. In daily healthcare practice, the go-to indicator of overweight and obesity is the body mass index (BMI). Now, an international team of scientists led by Lipotype introduces a revolutionary A.I. BMI approach towards personalized and precision medicine.

A joint effort of academy and industry
When academy meets industry significant jumps towards the future are possible. Researchers from TU Dresden and Lipotype GmbH, a spin-off of the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden, with the international participation of scientists from Lund University (Sweden) and National Institute for Health and Welfare (Finland) teamed up to critically investigate the BMI of more than 1000 patients. The international research team applied advanced artificial intelligence tools to develop an algorithm which makes use of the human blood plasma lipid composition, the plasma lipidome.

The lipidomic BMI
The plasma lipidome contains hundreds of distinct lipids. “Together, they are valuable indicators to explore the state of metabolism health of an individual – like a health fingerprint”, explains Mathias Gerl from Lipotype. This lipidomic data was used for training the algorithm to predict the BMI of each patient.

In comparison to the ‘household measures’-based BMI, the lipidomic data provided the new algorithm with the power to propose a new ‘molecular lipidomic BMI’. The lipidomic BMI calculation revealed that the molecular BMI was in a number of cases significantly higher than the traditional BMI. In approximately 1 out of 7 patients, the lipidomic BMI improved the classic ‘morphometric BMI’, and provided more information about obesity compared to the traditional BMI measurement, e.g. about the amount of visceral fat, a harmful kind of fat deposit.

The future of BMI
“Long-time consequences can occur when a patient in need for a weight reducing therapy to combat the risk for obesity-associated disease is sent home without remedy”, states Olle Melander from Lund University. “These patients may suddenly suffer from a heart attack at age 40 leaving their doctors puzzled”, comments Carlo Vittorio Cannistraci from the Biotechnology Center (BIOTEC) at the TU Dresden and adds: “We should overcome the obsolete logic that a single marker can help to assess risk in complex systems such as humans. Computational biomedicine adopts artificial intelligence to design multidimensional markers composed of many variables that increase precision of diagnosis. Hence, we hope that the traditional BMI will be replaced with a lipidomic marker to outpace the misclassification of 14% of patients.”

Resources

1 – Publication: Machine learning of human plasma lipidomes for obesity estimation in a large population cohort
2 – Press Release: Obesity risk quantification, a jump towards the future
3 – Pressemitteilung: Adipositas-Risikobestimmung, ein Sprung in die Zukunft
4 – TV news: Blutanalyse soll bei Erkennung von Adipositas helfen (only available until October 28)

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Interview, Publication, Technology, Press Release, Clinical Trial, Biomarker

Prof. Anne-Claude Gavin accepts 1st prize of LEA

Henri Deda September 30, 2019

The laureate of the world’s first Lipidomics Excellence Award, Prof. Dr. Anne-Claude Gavin from the University of Geneva , uses the analysis technology of Dresden based Lipotype GmbH for the next breakthrough in her lipid transfer research. The biochemist draws the world’s first molecular “map of lipid highways”, she is tracing the ways of lipid transfer between the membranes of body cells.

A map of lipid highways
“Latest research shows that the lipid metabolism plays a major role in the development of diabetes, cancer or Alzheimer’s. Once we have a better understanding of the ways certain lipids cause which effect, we may pave the way for new potential treatment approaches”, the laureate explains her research goal. “Lipidomics helps us answering questions we would not even dare to ask without it. It opens doors that may hold the answer to our civilization diseases.”

Lipidomics in diabetes research
Life science researchers of various disciplines discover Lipotype’s Shotgun Lipidomics Analysis for their projects. So does the diabetes research: “Lipidomics is step by step revealing processes and connections that stay hidden with traditional analysis methods”, says Prof. Dr. Michele Solimena, Professor of Molecular Diabetology, Medical School, TU Dresden, Germany and Director of the Paul Langerhans Institute Dresden, a German Center for Diabetes Research. „In diabetes research we make good progress thanks to lipidomics, e.g. it is now possible to define molecular lipid signatures that tell us about the development of non-diabetic to diabetes type 2 and progression towards diabetes complications.”

Deeper insights into the lipid cosmos
The unique Lipidomics Excellence Award rewards innovation and the drive for novelty in researchers who strike out in a new direction using lipidomics. The winner Prof. Dr. Anne-Claude Gavin’s project idea stood out in a strong competition with numerous international scientists and research teams. Ultimately, a top-class independent jury of renowned lipidomics experts awarded the Geneva-based scientist with the first prize equalizing lipid analyses worth 50,000 EUR.

“We want to shine a light on the fact that lipid analyses really make the difference between research and groundbreaking research: by providing new data one gains an even deeper insight into the lipid cosmos. It is high time to seize the potentials. Let us see what there is still to discover“, says Prof. Dr. Kai Simons, Professor and Director Emeritus at Max-Planck-Institute for Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics Dresden and founder and CEO of Lipotype.

About LEA
LEA, the Lipidomics Excellence Award, promotes researchers who are eager to contribute to the progress of life sciences with generous research prizes. Three individuals with ongoing research are awarded to support their projects. Applications were open to all researchers from academia and industry.

The winner of the first prize received 55,000 EUR worth of analysis services and present their research at the EMBO Workshop “Lipid function in health and disease” (27.-30.09.2019). A press conference was hold to
present the project and formally handover the LEA 2019 trophy.

LEA is supported by LIPID MAPS, SwissLipids and Lipotype, and the media Journal of Lipid Research, LABO and transkript.

Resources

1 – Materials: Additional press material including photos
2 – Website: The winners of LEA 2019
3 – Press Release: Summary of the Lipidomics Excellence Award press talk
4 – Pressemitteilung: Zusammenfassung der “Lipidomics Excellence Award”-Pressekonferenz

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Interview, Lipotype, Press Release, Kai Simons, Academia, LEA

The month of August in Lipidomics Publications

Henri Deda August 10, 2019

The month of August came with a set of newly-published lipidomics publications which made use of Lipotype Shotgun Lipidomics.

Chronic kidney disease
Clinical risk factors explain only a fraction of the variability of eGFR decline in people with type 2 diabetes. However, cross-omics technologies have the potential to identify additional biomarkers for the refinement of prognosis.

Putting together proteomics, metabolomics and lipidomics panel assay measurements and the clinical factor eGFR, the investigation unraveled the predictor biomarker KIM-1.

This is the first publication of the BEAt-DKD consortium which receives funding under IMI of the EU.

Nano-scale lipid organization
The plasma membrane is composed of a complex lipid mixture that forms heterogeneous membrane environments. Physiological events are controlled by small-scale lipid organization.

The investigation unraveled that some proteins are critical for the synthesis of the lipid phosphatidylinositol (4,5)-bisphosphate, a key regulator of dynamic events at the plasma membrane. Ultimately, they control global plasma membrane organization and dynamics.

Lipid droplet size
Lipid droplet breakdown in hepatocytes (liver cells) is mediated by a combination of lipolysis and a selective autophagic mechanism called lipophagy. However, the relationship of these seemingly distinct pathways remained unclear – until now.

This study found that inhibition of lipolysis, lipophagy, or both resulted in similar overall lipid droplet content but dramatic differences in their form. Inhibition of the lipolysis enzyme ATGL resulted in large cytoplasmic lipid droplets, whereas lysosomal inhibition caused the accumulation of numerous small ones within the cytoplasm. The combination of both resulted in large droplets.

Alterations of the liver in diabetes
The liver regulates the availability of insulin to other tissues. It is the first organ physiologically exposed to higher insulin concentrations. The molecular consequences of chronic insulin deficiency for the liver have now been studied systematically.

The analyses revealed increased activities in amino acid metabolism, oxidation of fatty acids, ketogenesis, and gluconeogenesis in the liver samples. The first multi-omics study of a clinically relevant diabetic large animal model revealed molecular signatures and key drivers of functional alterations of the liver in insulin-deficient diabetes.

Resources

1 – Integrative analysis of prognostic biomarkers derived from multiomics panels helps discrimination of chronic kidney disease trajectories in people with type 2 diabetes
2 – Osh Proteins Control Nanoscale Lipid Organization Necessary for PI(4,5)P2 Synthesis
3 – Lipid droplet size directs lipolysis and lipophagy catabolism in hepatocytes
4 – Multi-omics insights into functional alterations of the liver in insulin-deficient diabetes mellitus

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Publication, Academia