Protocols for Profiling of Metabolites and Metabolic Fluxes in Mammals

Dear Colleagues,

Global analyses and large-scale sequencing of genomes have led to two major shifts in the way scientific questions are approached. Firstly, the “omic” technical platforms have triggered a “high-throughput” revolution, which has allowed us to simultaneously determine hundreds to thousands of different molecular quantities. Secondly, we are increasingly aiming at understanding the importance of gene- and protein functions as part of metabolic networks. Therefore, quantitative analyses of the molecular quantities that define the activity of cellular networks are required. Metabolites are the end products of cellular biochemical processes, and their abundance is increasingly being considered as the ultimate response of biological systems to genetic, nutritional, or environmental changes. By analogy to the terms ‘genome’, ‘transcriptome’, and ‘proteome’, the set of metabolites present in a biological system comprises its ‘metabolome’. The use of isotope-labelled tracers can complement such data sets and allow the visualization of the dynamics of metabolic processes. As tracers are metabolized within tissues and cells, labelled isotopes become enriched in various metabolites, and this incorporation is a function of the label flux into and out of the metabolite pools. Thus, temporal isotopic labelling patterns can provide information on the ‘fluxome’ within tissues and cells. The new mass spectrometry-based technologies have provided the research community with the ability to assess changes in signalling networks and metabolites on a broad scale, providing a global perspective about how cells and organisms respond and adapt to, e.g., genetic, environmental, and nutritional changes, and therefore can be used to define cellular pathways, networks, and disease mechanisms.

The intention of this Special Issue of Metabolites is to provide a comprehensive collection of protocols used to globally profile metabolomes in mammalian biofluids and tissues, to identify and quantify selected groups of metabolites by targeted approaches, and, lastly, to chart the dynamics of metabolic fluxes. The issue will cover topics ranging from basic concepts of metabolomics, sample preparation, and analytical methodologies, to data interpretation and their applications in biomedicine. We anticipate that this issue will provide a useful resource not only to already established investigators with experience in metabolomics, but also to newcomers in the field, and may contribute to the standardization of metabolomics protocols used for profiling and quantification of metabolites in mammalian samples. We enthusiastically invite you to contribute to this Special Issue dedicated to “Protocols for Profiling of Metabolites and Metabolic Fluxes in Mammals”. We are confident that this issue will benefit the researchers who are interested and working in this field and become well cited in the future. Please use the Microsoft Word template (Protocol) to prepare your manuscript.

Prof. Dr. Nils Færgeman
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Metabolites is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

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• Targeted metabolomics
• Untargeted metabolomics
• Mass spectrometry
• LC–MS
• GC–MS
• Capillary electrophoresis
• Ion mobility mass spectrometry