Metabolomics and metabonomics

Beckonert O, Keun HC, Ebbels TM, Bundy J, Holmes E, Lindon JC, Nicholson JK. Metabolic profiling, metabolomic and metabonomic procedures for NMR spectroscopy of urine, plasma, serum and tissue extracts. Nat Protoc. 2007 2 2692-2703. 

The techniques currently used in metabolomics and metabonomics give researchers the ability to make an unbiased assessment of biochemical status at the cellular, tissue, or organism level. MS and NMR are the primary technologies of choice with which to explore the metabolome (Choi et al., 2001). Both technologies have made recent advances in sensitivity and data manipulation and storage. 

NMR spectroscopy is one of the cornerstones of modern natural products research and is used routinely to monitor compound purity through the isolation procedure and to determine the structure of novel bioactives. NMR also has a long history of use in metabolism studies utilizing proton and phosphorus nuclei in both liquid and solid states and in vivo and in vitro. More recently, NMR has been applied in metabolomics (or metabonomics) for metabolite profiling, quantification, and structure elucidation.4... 

Fourier transform ion cyclotron mass spectrometry (FT-ICR-MS) instrumentation offers excellent sensitivity, accuracy (<1 ppm), and high mass resolution (>1,000,000) (Table 10.2). However, because of being too expensive, difficult to use, and not compatible with conventional HPLC columns and flow rates, FTMS has not been frequently used in pharmaceutical research. This changed with an introduction of a hybrid instrument consisting of a linear ion-trap mass spectrometer compatible with LC and an ion-cyclotron-resonance (ICR) detector. Such a hybrid instrument is compatible with conventional HPLC and allows for acquisition of accurate mass data-dependent MS" spectra. Sanders et al. [128] recently reviewed the utility of hybrid LTQ-FTMS for drug metabolism and metabonomics applications while Brown et al. [129] reviewed the metabolomics applications of FT-ICR-MS. 

Lindon, J.C. and Nicholson, J.K., Analytical technologies for metabonomics and metabolomics, and multi-omic information recovery, Trends Anal. Chem., 27(3), 194, 2008. 

Metabolomics/Metabonomics is the application of systems-wide techniques (normally based on NMR) for metabolic profiling. Some scientists use the term metabolomics to describe such analyses in both simple (cellular) and complex (tissue or whole body) systems. Others distinguish between metabolomics studies in simple systems only (e.g., cell culture) and metabonomics studies performed in complex systems (e.g., the human body). 

This approach differs from those discussed above in that measured analytes have been selected a priori, usually to address certain specific biological questions within a study. Furthermore, since the exact analytes are known, it is possible and desirable to measure their absolute concentrations with appropriate use of internal standards and calibration curves. The lines between targeted metabolomics and traditional LC—MS-based assay development are arguably ill defined. Certainly, no one would equate an MS assay developed to measure alanine with targeted metabonomics. However, a multiplex assay to measure 13 or 14 organic acids in a urine sample probably qualifies. Often, targeted approaches can be developed for specific compoimd classes such as... 

J. C. Lindon and J. K. Nicholson, Analytical Technologies for Metabonomics and Metabolomics, and Multi-Omic Information Recovery , TrAC, Trend. Anal. Chem., 2008, 27, 194. 

Metabolomics (or metabonomics) is the biological approach to analyzing and modeling the metabolic response to biological interventions and disease processes (88,89). 

Metabolomics, Metabonomics and Metabolite Profiling 10 Ribozymes and RNA Catalysis 11 Protein-Nucleic Acid Interactions Structural Biology 12 Therapeutic Oligonucleotides... 

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