Metabolomics Core

Overview of Services

The metabolomics core provides expertise to profile and quantitate metabolites in biological samples using liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry.  Our mission is to perform the assays and assist in the interpretation of the results.

Targeted LC/MS Metabolomics Assays

• Acylcarnitines (57 ACs, products of fatty acid and amino acid oxidation)
• Organic acids (8 OAs, TCA cycle intermediates, products of glucose and amino acid oxidation)
• Amino acids (30 AAs)
• Nucleotides (30 nucleotides)
• Malonyl CoA and acetyl CoA 

Quantitation of these analytes by liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry is achieved by addition of isotopically-labelled internal standards to an array of sample types, including extracts of cells in culture, as well as bodily fluids and tissue extracts of model organisms and human subjects. These modules provide crucial information about metabolic pathways involving the three major classes of nutrients: lipids, carbohydrates, and protein.

Untargeted LC/MS Metabolomics

• Untargeted metabolomics is performed on a Thermo Orbitrap ID-X mass spectrometer to identify metabolites (MW 60-1000) for biomarker discovery.  Each sample is run through 2 separate LC/MS methods (reversed-phase C18 chromatography to retain medium polarity to non-polar metabolites and HILIC chromatography to retain highly polar metabolites). Statistical data analysis includes PCA, whisker plots, heat maps, and a database search to identify metabolites. 

Custom LC/MS Assay Method Development

• One of our key strengths is custom LC/MS assay method development for metabolites.  There are 3 levels of method development (low, medium, and high difficulty) with a set fee for each.

Research Resource Identifier (RRID)

Our RRID is: RRID:SCR_022381. Please cite us using this identifier when publishing your results. 

Core Director

Christopher Petucci Ph.D.

Location and hours of operation

Contacts