MSACL 2018 EU Abstract

Self-Classified Topic Area(s): Small Molecules

The Role of Chromatography in the Separation of Glucosylceramide Isoforms from Their Isobaric Galactosylceramide Counterparts in the Era of Precision Medicine

Christiane Auray-Blais (1), Michel Boutin (1), Sun Y (2), John Shacka (3)
(1) Universite de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, (2) Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, (3) University of Alabama at Birmingham, AL

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Christiane Auray-Blais (Presenter)
Universite de Sherbrooke

Presenter Bio: Christiane Auray-Blais is the Director of the Neonatal Urine Screening Program for hereditary metabolic disorders in Sherbrooke, QC. More than 3 300 000 newborn babies were screened in the Province of Quebec for 25 disorders of amino acids and organic acids. She holds a Ph.D. in radiobiology from the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS) at the Université de Sherbrooke and postdoctoral studies from Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina, US. She has a master’s degree in Health Law from the Faculty of Law at the Université de Sherbrooke and a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry. She is the author of more than 270 publications, abstracts and articles. She is a professor in the Medical Genetics Division in the Department of Pediatrics at the FMHS and a researcher at the Clinical Research Centre at CHUS in Sherbrooke, and in the Mother-Child Axis.

Relevant Financial Disclosures (within past 24 months)

Grant/Research Support Grant support from the Michael J. Fox Foundation

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Abstract

Glucosylceramide (GluCer) is a glycosphingolipid associated with various diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease and Gaucher disease. It is comprised of different fatty acid chains (isoforms), a sphingosine and a glucose moiety. The only difference between GluCer and galactosylceramide (GalCer) is the conformation of one hydroxyl group: axial in the former and equatorial in the latter. The focus of this study was to separate chromatographically GluCer isoforms from their isobaric GalCer counterparts. We report an ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) coupled to a tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) 6-min methodology which provides an efficient chromatographic separation of GluCer isoforms from their GalCer counterparts in brain tissues of Parkinson’s disease patients. This method was successfully applied to other matrices, such as vitreous humour in a Gaucher disease patient.