Lipid Profiling of Mouse Intestinal Organoids for studying APC Mutations

Inactivating mutations including both germline and somatic mutations in the adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) gene drives most familial and sporadic colorectal cancers. Understanding the metabolic implications of this mutation will aid to establish its wider impact on cellular behaviour and potentially inform clinical decisions. However, to date, alterations in lipid metabolism induced by APC mutations remain unclear. Intestinal organoids have gained widespread popularity in studying colorectal cancer and chemotherapies, because their three-dimensional structure more accurately mimics an in vivo environment. Here, we aimed to investigate intra-cellular lipid disturbances induced by APC gene mutations in intestinal organoids using a reversed-phase ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (RP-UHPLC-MS)-based lipid profiling method. Lipids of the organoids grown from either wildtype (WT) or mice with Apc mutations (Lgr5–EGFP-IRES-CreER^T2Apc^fl/fl) were extracted and analysed using RP-UHPLC-MS. Concentrations of phospholipids (e.g. PC(16:0/16:0), PC(18:1/20:0), PC(38:0), PC(18:1/22:1)), ceramides (e.g. Cer(d18:0/22:0), Cer(d42:0), Cer(d18:1/24:1)) and hexosylceramide (e.g. HexCer(d18:1/16:0), HexCer(d18:1/22:0))   were higher in Apc^fl/fl organoids, whereas levels of sphingomyelins (e.g. SM(d18:1/14:0), SM(d18:1/16:0) ) were lower compared to WT. These observations indicate that cellular metabolism of sphingomyelin was upregulated, resulting in the cellular accumulation of ceramides and production of HexCer due to the absence of Apc^fl/fl in the organoids. Our observations demonstrated lipid profiling of organoids and provided an enhanced insight into the effects of the APC mutations on lipid metabolism, making for a valuable addition to screening options of the organoid lipidome.