Metabolomics annotates ABHD3 as a physiologic regulator of medium-chain phospholipids

Academic Article
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publication date

  • November 2011

abstract

  • All organisms, including humans, possess a huge number of uncharacterized enzymes. Here we describe a general cell-based screen for enzyme substrate discovery by untargeted metabolomics and its application to identify the protein α/β-hydrolase domain-containing 3 (ABHD3) as a lipase that selectively cleaves medium-chain and oxidatively truncated phospholipids. Abhd3(-/-) mice possess elevated myristoyl (C14)-phospholipids, including the bioactive lipid C14-lysophosphatidylcholine, confirming the physiological relevance of our substrate assignments.