Targeted Metabolomics

Analytische Chemie am Fraunhofer ITEM Metabolomik
© Fraunhofer ITEM, Ralf Mohr

The metabolome comprises the entirety of all small molecules found in the different compart­ments of an organism. These are not only end products or inter­mediates but integral as signaling molecules of metabolic path­ways. The metabolome is influ­enced by protein expression (proteome), the read-out of the individual’s specific genome (DNA) and transcriptome (RNA).

But this is not a one-way track: envi­ronmental factors also play an important role in the regulation of metabolic path­ways. Hence, in biological systems the interactions between the four “omics” (geno­mics, transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics) are in a continuous multi­dimen­sional flow. Significant deviations of metabolite levels can be an indication of changes in the genome, whether of benign or malignant origin, or an adaptation to external factors. The number of metabolites in any organism is vast and their entirety cannot be captured by a single analytical method.

Quantitative targeted metabolomics, with a focus on a subset of hundreds of metabo­lites, is a valuable tool to study possible underlying mechanisms. Fraunhofer ITEM provides certified mass spectrometry (MS)-based metabolomic analyses involving two LC-MS platforms for the kit-based analysis of the metabolome. In combination with other methods, over 600 metabolites can be quantified.

 

Our services and expertise

 

  • Well-established workflow for LC-MS based determination of more than 600 metabolites using the Biocrates MxP® Quant 500 kit
  • Generation of quantitative data for hundreds of samples within a very short time frame
  • Coverage of several substance classes, including amino acids and related compounds, bile acids, biogenic amines, carbo­hydrates, carboxylic acids, fatty acids, acylcarnitines, phosphati­dyl­cholines, sphingomyelins, ceramides, cholesteryl esters, di- and triglycerides etc.
  • Application to various matrices such as plasma, serum, urine, feces and tissue samples from different species such as rat, mouse, human etc.
  • Data delivery in an editable Excel format 

 

Your benefits

 

  • Efficient and on-time project work benefiting from standardized processes and the expertise of our experienced team of scientists
  • Pooled expertise from different scientific disciplines such as toxicology, analytical chemistry, bioinformatics and statistics
  • Interdisciplinary knowledge exchange between scientists at Fraunhofer ITEM – the key to ongoing development and improvement of existing and new methods
Targeted Metabolomics Workflow
© Fraunhofer ITEM

Your contact for Bio- and Environmental Analytics

Sven Schuchardt

Contact Press / Media

Dr. Sven Schuchardt

Head of Department of Bio and Environmental Analytics

Phone +49 511 5350-218