CHARACTERIZATION OF THE LIPID PROFILE IN PLASMODIUM VIVAX

Abstract

THE EMERGING LIPIDOMICS FIELD CAN BE USED TO UNDERSTAND KEY DIFFERENCES IN THE PHOSPHOLIPID COMPOSITION OF HUMAN PATHOGENS. WHILE RAPID ADVANCES IN THE TECHNOLOGY USED FOR HIGH-THROUGHPUT ANALYSES HAVE DECREASED THE COST AND TIME NEEDED FOR LIPIDOMICS DATA GENERATION, THEIR INTERPRETATION HAS BECOME A SIGNIFICANT BOTTLENECK. IN THIS THESIS WE PRESENT THE FIRST LIPIDOMICS ANALYSIS OF PLASMODIUM VIVAX INFECTED ERYTHROCYTES. IMPORTANTLY, WE PRESENTED AND DESCRIBED A PACKAGE-STRUCTURED CODE USED TO RAPIDLY PROCESS THE P. VIVAX LIPIDOMICS DATA. THIS PROGRAM ACQUIRES MONOISOTOPIC FEATURES FROM A MASS SPECTROMETRY EXPERIMENT TO BE PROCESSED IN A SUBSEQUENT TANDEM MS EXPERIMENT. IT ALSO IDENTIFIES PARTICULAR LIPID SPECIES AND GIVES HINTS ON LIPID CLASSIFICATION GIVEN A DATABASE OF PRECURSOR ION AND NEUTRAL LOSS SCANS. THIS NOVEL PIPELINE WAS USED TO IDENTIFY LIPIDS OVER EXPRESSED IN RETICULOCYTES INFECTED WITH P. VIVAX IN COMPARISON WITH NON-INFECTED RETICULOCYTES AND THE RESULTS ARE DISCUSSE