B cell expression of the enzyme PexRAP, an intermediary in ether lipid biosynthesis, promotes antibody responses and germinal center size.

The qualities of antibody (Ab) responses provided by B lymphocytes and their plasma cell (PC) descendants are crucial facets of responses to vaccines and microbes. Metabolic processes and products regulate aspects of B cell proliferation and differentiation into germinal center (GC) and PC states as well as Ab diversification. However, there is little information about lymphoid cell-intrinsic functions of enzymes that mediate ether lipid biosynthesis, including a major class of membrane phospholipids.

Thermal Denaturation of Fresh Frozen Tissue Enhances Mass Spectrometry Detection of Peptides.

Thermal denaturation (TD), known as antigen retrieval, heats tissue samples in a buffered solution to expose protein epitopes. Thermal denaturation of formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded samples enhances on-tissue tryptic digestion, increasing peptide detection using matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization imaging mass spectrometry (MALDI IMS). We investigated the tissue-dependent effects of TD on peptide MALDI IMS and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry signal in unfixed, frozen human colon, ovary, and pancreas tissue.

MALDI TIMS IMS Reveals Ganglioside Molecular Diversity within Murine Kidney Tissue Abscesses.

Gangliosides play important roles in innate and adaptive immunity. The high degree of structural heterogeneity results in significant variability in ganglioside expression patterns and greatly complicates linking structure and function. Structural characterization at the site of infection is essential in elucidating host ganglioside function in response to invading pathogens, such as ().

Multimodal MALDI imaging mass spectrometry for improved diagnosis of melanoma.

Imaging mass spectrometry (IMS) provides promising avenues to augment histopathological investigation with rich spatio-molecular information. We have previously developed a classification model to differentiate melanoma from nevi lesions based on IMS protein data, a task that is challenging solely by histopathologic evaluation. Most IMS-focused studies collect microscopy in tandem with IMS data, but this microscopy data is generally omitted in downstream data analysis.