Methodologies for Metabolomics Experimental Strategies and Techniques

Metabolomics, the global characterisation of the small molecule complement involved in metabolism, has evolved into a powerful suite of approaches for understanding the global physiological and pathological processes occurring in biological organisms. The diversity of metabolites, the wide range of metabolic pathways and their divergent biological contexts require a range of methodological strategies and techniques. Methodologies for Metabolomics provides a comprehensive description of the newest methodological approaches in metabolomic research. The most important technologies used to identify and quantify metabolites, including nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometry, are highlighted. The integration of these techniques with classical biological methods is also addressed. Furthermore, the book presents statistical and chemometric methods for evaluation of the resultant data. The broad spectrum of topics includes a vast variety of organisms, samples and diseases, ranging from in vivo metabolomics in humans and animals to in vitro analysis of tissue samples, cultured cells and biofluids.

List of contributors; Part I. Basic Methodological Strategies in Metabolomic Research: 1. Exploring the human metabolome by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and mass spectroscopy; 2. Methodological requirements for lipidomics research; 3. Biological methods for metabolic research; Part II. Metabolomic Mass Spectrometry: Experimental Techniques and Bioinformatics: 4. Considerations in sample preparation, collection, and extraction approaches applied in microbial, plant, and mammalian metabolic profiling; 5. Mass spectrometry-based methodologies for single-cell metabolite detection and identification; 6. Direct metabolomics from tissues and cells: laser ablation electrospray ionization for small molecule and lipid characterization; 7. Bioinformatic approaches to processing and annotation of high-resolution mass spectrometry data; 8. Approaches for natural product detection and structural elucidation using mass spectrometry with high mass accuracy; 9. Metabolomics using ion mobility mass spectrometry; 10. Metabolomics via biomedical mass spectrometry: from sampling to clinical applications; Part III. Metabolomics of Biofluids: Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy and Chemometrics: 11. Analytical techniques in metabolomics integrating nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and chromatography with mass spectrometry; 12. Chemometric methods in nuclear magnetic resonance-based body fluid analysis; 13. Nuclear magnetic resonance of cerebrospinal fluid: the neurometabolome; 14. Nuclear magnetic resonance-based saliva metabolomics; 15. Nuclear magnetic resonance methods for metabolomic investigation of amniotic fluid; 16. Nuclear magnetic resonance analysis and genetic metabolic disease; 17. Lipid profiling in health and disease; Part IV. Metabolomic Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Techniques for Body Tissue Analysis: 18. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy in investigating the cancer metabolome in preclinical model systems; 19. Phospholipidomics by phosphorous nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy of tissue extracts; 20. Carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance for analysis of metabolic pathways; 21. Hyperpolarized nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy - a new method for metabolomic research; 22. Metabolomic magnetic resonance spectroscopy of human tissues: comparison of in vivo and high-resolution magic angle spinning ex vivo techniques; 23. Reproducible sample preparation and spectrum acquisition techniques for metabolic profiling of human tissues by proton high-resolution magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance; 24. Assignment strategies for nuclear magnetic resonances in metabolomics research; Index.

Norbert W. Lutz is Research Professor at the School of Medicine at the University of Aix-Marseille, France. He has previously held positions at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, the German Cancer Research Center, the University of Arizona Cancer Center and other internationally renowned research institutions. His research is primarily focused on the analysis of metabolic processes in cancer and in neurological diseases. His papers have appeared in Analytical Chemistry, Annals of Neurology, PLoS ONE, International Journal of Cancer, AIDS, Metabolomics, NMR in Biomedicine and other journals.
Jonathan V. Sweedler is the James R. Eiszner Family Professor of Chemistry and the Director of the School of Chemical Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA. His major research efforts involve developing new approaches for small-volume peptidomics and metabolomics and the application of these technologies to study novel neuro-chemical pathways. Professor Sweedler has published more than 350 manuscripts, book chapters and reviews and has presented 350 invited lectures relate to research in these areas. He is Editor-in-Chief of Analytical Chemistry.
Ron Wevers is head of the laboratory of Genetic Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases of the Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre in the Netherlands. He has a chair in Clinical Chemistry of Inborn Errors of Metabolism. Professor Wevers is also a member of the Dutch Health Council. He has co-authored more than 300 peer-reviewed papers and many book chapters and wrote a handbook on body fluid NMR spectroscopy in patients with inborn errors of metabolism.