Who we are
The Central Support Unit for Molecular Quantification and Characterization (UCA-CCM) was created in 2014 thanks to a public call for infrastructures from the Carlos III Health Institute for accredited Health Research Institutes. The mission of the unit is to provide advice and analytical support to all members of IRYCIS and its Hospital in research and assistance activities that require the application of chromatographic techniques (gas chromatography or liquid chromatography), in combination with traditional detectors (UV/Vis, fluorimetry, electrochemistry, radioactivity), or in combination with methods of detection by mass spectrometry (triple quadrupole, single quadrupole or MALDI-TOF). The unit has a portfolio of services specialized in lipidomics.
What is lipidomics?
Since the appearance of the term genomics in the mid-1980s, a number of different “omics” [1] have been emerging in the field of biology. The metabolomics is one of them, and tries to quantify and characterize all the metabolites present in a biological system, as well as their interrelation with their regulatory factors (proteins, RNAs, genes). The extreme variety of metabolites present in a cell or tissue makes it impossible to approach all metabolites quantitatively with a single methodological approach and for this reason lipidomics can be defined as a branch of the metabolomics specialised in the study of lipids. Like all omics, the lipidomics avoids a reductionist vision when studying biological phenomena. In other words, in contrast to studies in which a prior hypothesis is put forward on the involvement of a reduced number of variables, in this case lipids, in a process (studies of directed hypotheses, also known as “targeted”), the capacity of the lipidomics to quantify a high number of lipids makes it possible to understand integrally the functioning of the biological processes studied and the generation of new working hypotheses.
“The molecular characterization of lipids in a biological system, as well as their function and study their relationship with the expression of enzymes and proteins involved in their metabolism and gene regulation.”
(Spener, F. y col. Editorial: What is lipidomics (Eur. J. Lipid Sci. Technol. (2003))
[1] Omics is a neologism that comes from the English, which in Molecular Biology is used as a suffix to refer to the study of all or the whole of something, such as genes, organisms in an ecosystem, proteins, lipids, or even the relationships between them (Wikipedia).
What areas of research do we work in?

Study with cellular models in vitro

Models with experimental animals

Translation of the results obtained to the diagnosis and monitoring of diseases
Our portfolio of services
Do you want to apply lipidomics to your projects?
If you are working on a project and want to complete your results with the lipidomic data, need our advice, analytical support or want to collaborate on one of our active projects, do not hesitate to contact us
Do you want to train in the field of lipidomics?
If you are interested in starting your career in the field of metabolomics, learning how to operate mass spectrometry equipment and perform lipidomics, make a stay in our laboratories as an assistant, develop your final project / master’s degree / thesis with us, do not hesitate to contact us.
About us


