Bathing suit ichthyosis is caused by transglutaminase-1 deficiency: evidence for a temperaturesensitive phenotype. Hum Mol Genet 15: 3083-97 Persikov AV, Pillitteri RJ, Amin P et al. (2004) Stability related bias in residues replacing glycines within the collagen triple helix (Gly-Xaa-Yaa) in inherited connective tissue disorders. Hum Mutat 24:330-7 Xu K, Nowak I, Kirchner M et al. (2008) Recombinant collagen studies link the severe conformational changes induced by osteo-genesis imperfecta mutations to the disruption of a set of interchain salt bridges. J Biol Chem 283:34337-44 Woodley DT, Hou Y, Martin S et al. (2008) Characterization of molecular mechanisms underlying mutations in dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa using site-directed mutagenesis.

Ceramides (CERs) in human stratum corneum (SC) play physicochemical roles in determining barrier and waterholding functions of the skin, and specific species might be closely related to the regulation of keratinization, together with other CER-related lipids. Structures of those diverse CER species, however, have not been comprehensively revealed. The aim of this study was to characterize overall CER species in the SC. First, we constructed 3D multi-mass chromatograms of the overall CER species, based on normalphase liquid chromatography (NPLC) connected to electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) using a gradient elution system and a postcolumn addition of a volatile saltcontaining polar solvent. The CERs targeted from the 3D chromatograms were structurally analyzed using NPLC-ESItandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS), which resulted in the identification of 342 CER species in the inner forearm SC. This led to the discovery of a new CER class consisting of ahydroxy fatty acid and dihydrosphingosine moieties, in addition to the 10 classes generally known. The results also revealed that those CERs contain long-chain (more than C 18 )-containing sphingoids and a great number of isobaric species. These novel results will contribute not only to physiochemical research on CERs in the SC but also to lipidomics approaches to CERs in the skin.-Masukawa, Y

This article is available online at http://www.jlr.org novo pathways, such as alterations of some species of the targeted lipidomes into others. Similar to common quantitative analyses using direct MS or LC-MS that need authentic standards together with internal ones, quantitative lipidomics may also require a standard set of all lipid species targeted, because each lipid species has a different molar response in MS detection except for special cases. However, it is practically impossible to obtain all authentic species, including not only different even straight carbon chains but also odd and/or branched ones. To overcome such limitations, lipidomics researchers have contrived a novel procedure to quantify lipidomes comprehensively. Han and Gross ( 3 ) proposed a quantitative method for analyzing triglyceride molecular species using direct MS, which involves a procedure to calculate response factors for species that are not available as authentic materials, based on differences of the responses in the numbers of total carbons and double bonds among the species. For quantitative determination of phospholipid molecular species, Koivusalo et al. ( 4 ) utilized the following parameAbstract One of the key challenges in lipidomics is to quantify lipidomes of interest, as it is practically impossible to collect all authentic materials covering the targeted lipidomes. For diverse ceramides (CER) in human stratum corneum (SC) that play important physicochemical roles in the skin, we developed a novel method for quantifi cation of the overall CER species by improving our previously reported profi ling technique using normal-phase liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (NPLC-ESI-MS). The use of simultaneous selected ion monitoring measurement of as many as 182 kinds of molecular-related ions enables the highly sensitive detection of the overall CER species, as they can be analyzed in only one SC-stripped tape as small as 5 mm × 10 mm. To comprehensively quantify CERs, including those not available as authentic species, we designed a procedure to estimate their levels using relative responses of representative authentic species covering the species targeted, considering the systematic error based on intra-/inter-day analyses. The CER levels obtained by this method were comparable to those determined by conventional thin-layer chromatography (TLC), which guarantees the validity of this method. , ceramide class consisting of non-hydroxy fatty acids and 4-sphingenines; ESI, electrospray ionization; LOD, limit of detection; LOQ, limit of quantifi cation; NPLC, normal-phase liquid chromatography; RPLC, reversed-phase liquid chromatography; RSD, relative standard deviation; SC, stratum corneum; SIM, selected ion monitoring; S/N, signal to noise; TLC, thinlayer chromatography

The hair lipid composition collected from 44 Japanese females between 1 and 81 years of age was examined for eight lipids including hydrocarbons (HCs), squalene (SQ), wax esters (WEs), triglycerides (TGs), fatty acids (FAs), cholesterol (CH), ceramides (CERs), and 18‐methyl eicosanoic acid (MEA). In this study, the 5‐cm length from the proximal root end of hair fibers, which had never been exposed to any chemical treatment, was used after 5‐min incubation with hexane following shampooing. Hair lipids were extracted with solvent and subsequent alkali‐solvent and were then analyzed by a combination of chromatography. Although the average contents of the lipids showed great fluctuations among individuals, there were significant correlations between the levels of each lipid, which allowed for the classification of the hair lipids into four groups: group A: SQ, WEs, TGs, and FAs (designated as endogenous lipids based upon their sebum origin); group B: CH and CERs (designated as endogenous lipids); group C: HC (unknown origin); and group D: MEA (the other endogenous lipid). A principal component analysis for eight lipids revealed that the hair lipid composition was characterized by a predominant negative correlation between each lipid for groups A and B. This negative correlation suggests that the endogenous lipids in group B serve as a barrier against the penetration of predominantly sebum‐derived exogenous lipids (group A). Endogenous lipids consisting of CH and CERs (group B) and MEA (group D) should be designated as intrinsic internal lipids of human hair.

The stratum corneum, which is the outermost layer of the skin, functions as an important barrier to maintain biological homeostasis. The multilamellar structures formed by intercellular lipids present in the stratum corneum are considered to play an important role in barrier function. Most intercellular lipids are unbound and can be extracted by organic solvents, but some intercellular lipids are covalently bound to cornified envelope proteins. Decreases in unbound lipid levels reduce the barrier function of the stratum corneum, but the relationship between bound lipid and the barrier function of the stratum corneum is not well understood. In this study, we examined the relationship between the amount of covalently bound ceramide, the main bound lipid, and the barrier function of the stratum corneum. A single dose of UVB irradiation (2 x MED), or continuous UVB irradiation (0.5 x MED/day for 14 days) to the back, or feeding with an essential fatty acid-deficient (EFAD) diet for 8 weeks caused a significant elevation of TEWL and a significant reduction in covalently bound ceramides in hairless rats. Transmission electron microscopy revealed that the intercellular multilamellar structures in the stratum corneum of treated rats were incomplete (folding, defects, unclear images) compared to the structures seen in the stratum corneum of non-UVB-irradiated and non-EFAD rats. These results suggest that the amount of covalently bound ceramides is highly correlated with the barrier function of the skin, and that covalently bound ceramides play an important role in the formation of lamellar structures, and are involved in the maintenance of the barrier function of the skin.

A novel method to quantify glycidol fatty acid esters (GEs), supposed to present as food processing contaminants in edible oils, has been developed in combination with double solid-phase extractions (SPEs) and LC-MS measurements. The analytes were five species of synthetic GEs: glycidol palmitic, stearic, oleic, linoleic and linolenic acid esters. The use of selected ion monitoring in a positive ion mode of atmospheric chemical ionization-MS with a reversed-phase gradient LC provided a limit of quantification of 0.0045-0.012 mg/mL for the standard GEs, which enables the detection of GEs in mg ranges per gram of edible oil. Using the double SPE procedure first in reversed-phase and then in normalphase second, allowed large amounts of co-existing acylglycerols in the oils to be removed, which improved the robustness and stability of the method in sequential runs of LC-MS measurements. When the method was used to quantify GEs in three commercial sources of edible oils, the recovery% ranged from 71.3 to 94.6% (average 79.4%) with a relative standard deviation of 2.9-12.1% for the two oils containing triacylglycerols as major components, and ranged from 90.8 to 105.1% (average 97.2%) with a relative standard deviation of 2.1-12.0% for the other, diacylglycerol-rich oil. Although the accuracy and precision of the method may not be yet sufficient, it is useful for determining trace levels of GEs and will be helpful for the quality control of edible oils.

Ceramides (CERs) play key roles in signal transduction and cell regulation, probably during the keratinization of human hair. Current methods using mass spectrometry (MS), however, are not sufficient to allow the comprehensive analysis of CER molecules, including isobaric and isomeric CERs. Therefore, a method for the comprehensive profiling of CERs was developed. The method developed is based on reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RPLC) coupled to atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI)-MS. Comprehensive identification and profiling of CERs is achieved using two sets of multimass chromatograms obtained from two channel detections that monitor both molecular-related and sphingoid-related ions under two different in-source collision-induced dissociation conditions and using retention times obtained from RPLC. The application of this method revealed that human hair contains 73 species of CER molecules, which were all corroborated by structural analysis using tandem mass spectrometry. The results further revealed that the composition is characterized by predominant molecules consisting of even carbon atom-containing saturated/unsaturated nonhydroxy or a-hydroxy fatty acids and C 18 dihydrosphingosine, a minor but distinct content of isobaric/isomeric and odd chain-containing CERs. This successfully developed RPLC-APCI-MS technique allows the comprehensive profiling of CER molecules in hair for the investigation of their physicochemical and physiological roles.-Masukawa, Y., H. Tsujimura, and H. Narita. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry for comprehensive profiling of ceramide molecules in human hair. J. Lipid Res. 2006Res. . 47: 1559Res. -1571 Supplementary key words fatty acid moiety . identification . isobaric .

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