Lipidome analysis of oropharyngeal tumor tissues using Nanosecond Infrared Laser (NIRL) tissue sampling and subsequent mass spectrometry

Introduction The knowledge on the role of lipids in cancer is well established and perturbations of lipid metabolism in malignant disease are increasingly becoming a research focus as mass spectrometry enables for high-throughput and high-resolution analysis of the tissues lipidom. This study demonstrates the feasibility of tissue ablation with a nanosecond infrared laser (NIRL) for the subsequent lipidomic analysis of oropharyngeal tissues and its potential to discriminate oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) from healthy oropharyngeal tissue.

Material/Method Quantitative lipid profiles covering 13 lipid classes and 755 lipid species were obtained for 11 fresh frozen oropharyngeal tissue samples of 4 patients (7 OPSCC samples and 4 healthy tissue samples, with three technical replicants each). The aerosol obtained by tissue ablation with a NIRL was analyzed using a LipidizerTM platform.

Results Significant inter- and intrapatient differences in lipid profiles were observed across all tumor and non-tumor samples. The most consistent alterations included an increase in the proportion of phosphatidylethanolamines and phosphatidylcholines in OPSCC samples, independent of the tumor location (tonsil and base of the tongue (BOT)). Another notable alteration in BOT samples was a decrease in the proportion of triacylglycerins by 65% in the OPSCC samples.

Conclusion NIRL-based tissue sampling with consecutive MS lipidomic analysis emerges as a feasible approach for the differentiation of OPSCC and healthy oropharyngeal tissue and provides new insights into lipid alterations in OPSCC. In combination with the outstanding surgical properties of NIRL the use of this technology in clinical practice holds great promise for the future.

Funding information "Behörde für Wissenschaft, Forschung, Gleichstellung und Bezirke" of Hanseatic City of Hamburg (LFF-FV-75 and LFF-GK-10). Partial funding from the "Deutsche Forschungsgesellschaft" (DFG) (INST 337/15-1, INST 337/16-1 and INST 152/837-1)

Publikationsverlauf

Artikel online veröffentlicht:
19. April 2024