Abstract
In order to understand whether the lipid composition of the plasma membrane is related to life expectancy, in this work we conducted a comparative study of the profiles of molecular species of four main classes of plasma membrane phospholipids (phosphatidylcholines (PC), phosphatidylethanolamines (PE), phosphatidylserines (PS) and phosphatidylinositols (PI)) for the long-lived mussel Crenomytilus grayanus and the long-lived sea urchin Mesocentrotus nudus and the short-lived mussel Mytilus trossulus and the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus intermedius. Molecular profiles of these membrane lipids were determined using high-performance liquid chromatography in combination with high-resolution mass spectrometry. In this work it was shown that the profile of PI molecular species is not related to the lifespan of mussels and hedgehogs, in contrast to the profile of PC, PE, and PS molecular species. Sea urchins M. nudus and mussel C. grayanus with a longer lifespan were characterized by an increased content of PC, PE and PS with odd numbered alkyl/acyl chains and molecular species with arachidonic acid (20:4n-6), a higher content of which can contribute to a better adaptation of the mussel of C. grayanus and the sea urchin M. nudus and thus contribute to a longer lifespan. The lipidomic approach to studying the gerontological problem using sea urchin and bivalves as an example has shown a clear relationship between the profile of molecular types of membrane lipids and lifespan. The exact mechanisms of this need to be clarified further.