Dynamics of the ethanolamine glycerophospholipid remodeling network

Acyl chain remodeling in lipids is a critical biochemical process that plays a central role in disease. However, remodeling remains poorly understood, despite massive increases in lipidomic data. In this work, we determine the dynamic network of ethanolamine glycerophospholipid (PE) remodeling, using data from pulse-chase experiments and a novel bioinformatic network inference approach. The model uses a set of ordinary differential equations based on the assumptions that (1) sn1 and sn2 acyl positions are independently remodeled; (2) remodeling reaction rates are constant over time; and (3) acyl donor concentrations are constant. We use a novel fast and accurate two-step algorithm to automatically infer model parameters and their values. This is the first such method applicable to dynamic phospholipid lipidomic data. Our inference procedure closely fits experimental measurements and shows strong cross-validation across six independent experiments with distinct deuterium-labeled PE precursors, demonstrating the validity of our assumptions. In contrast, fits of randomized data or fits using random model parameters are worse. A key outcome is that we are able to robustly distinguish deacylation and reacylation kinetics of individual acyl chain types at the sn1 and sn2 positions, explaining the established prevalence of saturated and unsaturated chains in the respective positions. The present study thus demonstrates that dynamic acyl chain remodeling processes can be reliably determined from dynamic lipidomic data.