Lipid Science & Technology

Biography

Biography: Chryssostomos Chatgilialoglu

Abstract

Fatty acid-based membrane       lipidomics       examines      phospholipid      components in connection with metab olic and nutritional issues. Indeed,      fatty acid-         based     nutrition  and    nutraceuticals    are  essential to l ife and occupy leader positions in health market. Fatty acids are affected by stress conditions and the response occurs through two main mechanisms: i) the “chemical” response, being oxidized and trans fatty acids the most important structural changes occurring to membrane components; ii) the “remodeling” response by the activation of     phospholipase     enzymes (in particular PLA2 response), starting the cascade of lipid    signaling    so decisive for inflammatory and   apoptotic   consequences. Fatty acid-based membrane lipidomics responds to various metabol ic and environmental conditions and we contributed to the study of basic mechanisms of free radical and metabolic stress, modeling the effects in   liposome  , cellular and animal models. A strong analytical methodology for lipidomi c profiling was set-up to evidence positional and geometrical fatty acid isomers, which cannot be examined by mass spectrometry. New knowledge on the role of positional isomers has been acquired in healthy and pathological (obesity) conditions, highlighting the   monounsaturated fatty acid    biomarker  sapienic acid (6cis-16:1) as novel biomarker. In nutrition and nutraceuticals, cis lipid geometry is essential for life, to ensure membrane fluidity and properties, and also fatty acid sources in foods must not contain the trans isomers, which are unnatural. By a suitable geometrical tr ans fatty acid library new insights will be given, showing the mono-trans isomers of the  omega-3 PUFA , such as EPA and DHA, with important applications in lipid metabolism and nutraceuticals