Ion-exchange chromatography mass spectrometry and its impact in ‘omics’ science
Omics science has revolutionized the way we study molecular systems in cells, tissues, and whole organisms. Metabolomics, the youngest of the omics sciences, reports on cellular function and has revealed new molecular biomarkers and metabolic pathways involved in disease. However, technical capabilities in metabolomics lag behind those of other ‘omics’ sciences. For example, polar and ionic metabolites represent the majority of abundant metabolites in primary and secondary metabolic pathways, across all domains of life, but methods to comprehensively characterise and quantify these metabolites remain challenging.
Ion-exchange chromatography mass spectrometry (IC-MS) has begun to impact metabolomics, providing a step-change in analytical capability for highly polar and ionic metabolite analysis. Research from our group developing and validating IC-MS for metabolomics and multiomics applications will be presented, including a direct comparison between IC-MS with HILIC-MS methods. Applications including cell, tissue and biofluid analysis, cancer metabolism and treatment, novel target discovery for anti-microbial resistance (AMR) and biomarker discovery in hepatocellular cancer will be highlighted.
Learning points
- How to expand on the identification of polar and ionic metabolites
- How to optimise the selectivity with IC-MS with HILIC-MS
- The impact on the study of molecular systems in cells, tissues, and whole organisms
Who should attend?
- Omics researchers
- Glycomics researchers
- BioPharma researchers
Presenter: James McCullagh (Professor of Biological Chemistry, University of Oxford, Mass Spectrometry Research Facility, Department of Chemistry)
After a degree in Natural Sciences at University of Durham and MSc at UCL, he worked for Micromass (now Waters) for 3 years before moving to Oxford with a NERC D.Phil. studentship to develop biological mass spectrometry and isotope ratio mass spectrometry methods for palaeodietary reconstruction and compound-specific radiocarbon dating. After his PhD he took up a Post-doctoral Resarch position at the Department of Chemistry and worked on ion-mobility-mass spectrometry and used isotope tracers to investigate protein modifications involved in cellular sensing mechanisms. After becoming Director of the Mass Spectrometry Research Facility and a departmental lecture in 2009 he started his own research group. In 2015 he was awarded the title of Associate Professor and in 2020 he became full professor of Biological Chemistry.
