Lipidomic analysis reveals activation of phospholipid signaling in mechanotransduction of Taxus cuspidata cells in response to shear stress

Lipid signaling involved in mechanotransduction processes in response to shear stress in plants remained elusive. To understand the responses of phospholipids in shear stress-induced mechanotransduction, a lipidomic approach was employed to profile phospholipid species of Taxus cuspidata cells under laminar shear stress. A total of 99 phospholipid species were profiled quantitatively, using the LC/ESI/MSn procedure. Potential biomarkers were found by the principal component analysis (PCA) as well as partial least squares (PLS) combined with variable influence in the projection (VIP). Phosphatidic acid (PA) and lysophosphatidylcholine (LysoPC) were two important lipid groups that were responsible for the discrimination between shear stress induced and control cells. Further research revealed that shear stress enhanced the activation of phospholipase D (PLD) and phospholipase C (PLC) compared with control cells and consequently increased PA content in shear stress induced T. cuspidata cells. These results demonstrate that phospholipids and related phospholipases play important roles in mechanotransduction of T. cuspidata cells in response to shear stress.-Han, P.-P., Yuan, Y.-J. Lipidomic analysis reveals activation of phospholipid signaling in mechanotransduction of Taxus cuspidata cells in response to shear stress. FASEB J. 23, 623-630 (2009)