Lipidomics at the interface of structure and function in systems biology

Cells, tissues, and biological fluids contain a diverse repertoire of many tens of thousands of structurally distinct lipids that play multiple roles in cellular signaling, bioenergetics, and membrane structure and function. In an era where lipid-related disease states predominate, lipidomics has assumed a prominent role in systems biology through its unique ability to directly identify functional alterations in multiple lipid metabolic and signaling networks. The development of shotgun lipidomics has led to the facile accrual of high density information on alterations in the lipidome mediating physiologic cellular adaptation during health and pathologic alterations during disease. Through both targeted and nontargeted investigations, lipidomics has already revealed the chemical mechanisms underlying many lipid-related disease states.