ORIGINAL ARTICLE Lipidomic Analysis of Porcine Olfactory Epithelial Membranes and Cilia Simona Lobasso • Patrizia Lopalco • Roberto Angelini • Maristella Baronio • Francesco P. Fanizzi • Francesco Babudri • Angela Corcelli Received: 7 April 2010 / Accepted: 6 May 2010 / Published online: 29 May 2010 Ó AOCS 2010 Abstract The use of the matrix 9-aminoacridine has been recently introduced in matrix-assisted laser desorption/ ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry analysis of both anionic and cationic phospholipids. In the present study, we take advantage of this technique to analyze the lipids of porcine olfactory mucosa and a membrane fraction enriched in cilia. Thin-layer chroma- tography (TLC) and 31 P-NMR analyses of the lipid extracts were also performed in parallel. MALDI-TOF-MS allowed the identification of lipid classes in the total lipid extract and individual lipids present in the main TLC bands. The comparison between the composition of the two lipid extracts showed that: (1) cardiolipin, present in small amount in the whole olfactory mucosa lipid extract, was absent in the extract of membranes enriched in olfactory cilia, (2) phosphatidylethanolamine species were less abundant in ciliary than in whole epithelial membranes, (3) sulfoglycosphingolipids were detected in the lipid extract of ciliary membranes, but not in that of epithelial membranes. Our results indicate that the lipid pattern of ciliary membranes is different from that of whole-tissue membranes and suggest that olfactory receptors require a specific lipid environment for their functioning. Keywords Olfactory epithelium Á Pig Á Lipids Á MALDI-TOF-MS Á TLC Á 31 P-NMR Abbreviations AC3 Adenylcyclase III cAMP Cyclic-adenosine-monophosphate Cer Ceramides CHOL Cholesterol CM Ciliary membranes DMSO Dimethylsulfoxide DTT Dithiothreitol Gb5 Globopentaosylceramides IBMX Isobutylmethylxanthine MALDI-TOF-MS Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry OR Olfactory receptor OSN Olfactory sensory neuron PtdOH Phosphatidic acid PtdCho Phosphatidylcholine PtdEtn Phosphatidylethanolamine p-PtdEtn Plasmenyl-Phosphatidylethanolamine PtdIns Phosphatidylinositol PMSF Phenylmethanesulfonyl fluoride PtdSer Phosphatidylserine Ptd 2 Gro Cardiolipin S-GalCer Sulfoglycosphingolipids S. Lobasso Á R. Angelini Á M. Baronio Á A. Corcelli (&) Department of Medical Biochemistry Medical Biology and Medical Physics, University Aldo Moro, Pl. G. Cesare, 70124 Bari, Italy e-mail: a.corcelli@biologia.uniba.it P. Lopalco Institute for Microelectronics and Microsystems (IMM), National Research Council (CNR), Lecce, Italy F. P. Fanizzi Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Technologies, University of Salento, Lecce, Italy F. Babudri Department of Chemistry, University Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy A. Corcelli Institute for Chemical-Physical Processes, National Research Council (IPCF-CNR), Bari, Italy 123 Lipids (2010) 45:593–602 DOI 10.1007/s11745-010-3432-1