State-of-the-Art Analytical Technologies for Metabolomics Analysis

Dear Colleagues,

The term metabolome was first introduced in 1998. It refers to law-molecular-weight compounds crucial for biochemical changes occurring in living organisms. They can be produced directly by the organism or microorganisms inhabiting the host organism or delivered to the organism via different non-invasive or invasive methods. The rapid development of research in this area has proven that the pool of metabolites is much richer than initially anticipated and requires complex instrumental techniques to ensure high selectivity and sensitivity. Metabolites therefore present a distinct analytical challenge in which several issues must be taken into consideration to obtain adequately reliable results for both qualitative and quantitative analysis. These include thermal lability and chemical reactivity of metabolites leading to transformation of metabolites during subsequent steps of the analytical process (isolation from biological material, purification or even detection itself). The low molecular weights and high structural diversity of metabolites often require the use of high-performance separation techniques and molecule-specific spectrometers by analytical biochemists experienced in spectral interpretation and statistical analysis who must additionally overcome a shortage of standards for majority of metabolites. Over 20 years of practice in metabolomics allow us to define its limitations, strengths, and set directions for future development.

Therefore, this Special Issue aims to call for original research and review articles on overcoming analytical problems encountered in targeted and untargeted metabolomics, with an emphasis on the development of strategies required for qualitative and quantitative analysis.

Potential topics include but are not limited to:

• New methods for sample preparation, purification, and enrichment of metabolites;
• Development of un-targeted, semi-, and targeted strategies in metabolomics (analytical platforms);
• Identification and characterization of metabolites based on NMR and/or mass spectra analysis;
• Different approaches applied for quantitative analysis with the aim to improve accuracy or precision of the method or to solve the problem of standards deficiency.

I look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Katarzyna Pawlak
Guest Editor

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