Abstract
Phosphoinositides (PIs) and sphingolipids regulate many aspects of cell behavior and are often involved in disease processes such as oncogenesis. Capillary electrophoresis with laser induced fluorescence detection (CE-LIF) is emerging as an important tool for enzymatic assays of the metabolism of these lipids, particularly in cell-based formats. Previous separations of phosphoinositide lipids by CE required a complex buffer with polymer additives which had the disadvantages of high cost and/or short shelf life. Further a simultaneous separation of these classes of lipids has not been demonstrated in a robust buffer system. In the current work, a simple separation buffer based on NaH(2)PO(4) and 1-propanol was optimized to separate two sphingolipids and multiple phosphoinositides by CE. The NaH(2)PO(4) concentration, pH, 1-propanol fraction, and a surfactant additive to the buffer were individually optimized to achieve simultaneous separation of the sphingolipids and phosphoinositides. Fluorescein-labeled sphingosine (SFL) and sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1PFL), fluorescein-labeled phosphatidyl-inositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) and phosphatidyl-inositol 3,4,5-trisphosphate (PIP3), and bodipy-fluorescein (BFL)-labeled PIP2 and PIP3 were separated pairwise and in combination to demonstrate the generalizability of the method. Theoretical plate numbers achieved were as high as 2×10(5) in separating fluorophore-labeled PIP2 and PIP3. Detection limits for the 6 analytes were in the range of 10(-18)-10(-20)mol. The method also showed high reproducibility, as the relative standard deviation of the normalized migration time for each analyte in the simultaneous separation of all 6 compounds was less than 1%. The separation of a mixture composed of diacylglycerol (DAG) and multiple phosphoinositides was also demonstrated. As a final test, fluorescent lipid metabolites formed within cells loaded with BFLPIP2 were separated from a cell lysate as well as a single cell. This simple and robust separation method for SFL and S1PFL and various metabolites of phosphoinositide-related signal transduction is expected to enable improved enzymatic assays for biological and clinical applications.