  The pathogenesis and progression of many tumors, including hematologic
malignancies is highly dependent on enhanced lipogenesis. De novo fatty-acid
synthesis permits accelerated proliferation of tumor cells by providing
structural components to build the membranes. It may also lead to alterations
of physicochemical properties of the formed membranes, which can have an impact
on signaling or even increase resistance to drugs in cancer cells. Cancer
type-specific lipid profiles would allow understanding the actual effects of
lipid changes and therefore could potentially serve as fingerprints for
individual tumors and be explored as diagnostic markers. We have used shotgun
MS approach to identify lipid patterns in different types of acute myeloid
leukemia (AML) patients that either show no karyotype changes or belong to
t(8;21) or inv16 types. The observed differences in lipidomes of t(8;21) and
inv(16) patients, as compared to AML patients without karyotype changes,
concentrate mostly on substantial modulation of ceramides/sphingolipids
synthesis. Also significant changes in the physicochemical properties of the
membranes, between the t(8;21) and the other patients, were noted that were
related to a marked alteration in the saturation levels of lipids. The revealed
differences in lipid profiles of various AML types increase our understanding
of the affected biochemical pathways and can potentially serve as diagnostic
tools.
