Harness the power of metabolomics

Significance of the Topic

Metabolomics tracks small molecule profiles to unravel biochemical processes underlying health, disease, biotechnology and environmental systems. Its high value spans biomarker discovery, precision medicine, agricultural research and industrial or forensic applications.

Objectives and Study Overview

This work presents a unified metabolomics platform combining high-resolution Orbitrap LC-MS instruments, intelligent data collection and robust software with spectral libraries. The goal is to streamline workflows from compound detection and annotation through accurate quantitation across diverse applications.

Methodology

The approach integrates high-resolution accurate-mass liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HRAM LC-MS), data-dependent acquisition enhanced by AcquireX workflows, semi-targeted and targeted quantitation strategies. It employs UHPLC separations (reversed-phase and HILIC), gas chromatography with high mass accuracy and stable isotope labeling to track metabolic fluxes.

Instrumentation

Key hardware includes the Orbitrap Exploris 240 and Orbitrap ID-X Tribrid mass spectrometers, Vanquish Duo UHPLC system, Vanquish UHPLC, TriPlus RSH autosampler, EASY-IC ion source, TSQ Altis triple quadrupole, Orbitrap Exploris GC 240 and integrated data acquisition controllers.

Main Results and Discussion

Orbitrap technology delivered consistent sub-ppm mass accuracy and ultra-high resolution (>120K), enabling isotope fine-structure elucidation and precise formula assignment. AcquireX deep-scan workflows increased MS2 coverage from 33% to 78% in plasma samples. A semi-targeted protocol detected over 4,000 metabolites in mouse plasma, revealing diet- and sex-dependent changes. Targeted profiling quantified triglycerides and lipid mediators with pg/mL sensitivity and linear calibration. QA/QC studies demonstrated retention time stability and peak area CVs below 11% across more than 100 injections. Stable isotope labeling experiments achieved isotopologue CVs under 6%. Orthogonal separations via dual-path UHPLC and GC-MS expanded metabolome depth.

Benefits and Practical Applications

This integrated suite enables confident annotation of known and unknown compounds, comprehensive profiling and robust quantitation in a single workflow. It supports high throughput and reliability for large-scale cohort studies in human health, nutrition, agriculture, industrial biotechnology, environmental analysis and forensic applications.

Future Trends and Potential Applications

Emerging directions include enhanced automation of intelligent acquisition, integration of multi-omics and AI-driven data interpretation, expansion of spectral libraries for unknown identification, advanced orthogonal separation techniques and single-cell metabolomics. Real-time data processing, improved in vivo labeling strategies and cloud-based collaborative platforms will further extend metabolomics applications in diagnostics and environmental monitoring.

Conclusion

The presented metabolomics platform, combining leading HRAM instrumentation, adaptive acquisition workflows and comprehensive software, sets a new standard for metabolite discovery and quantitation, empowering research across diverse scientific domains.

References

• No literature references were provided in the source document.