Seeing the full picture of metabolism

Access through your institution Buy or subscribe Cells, tissues and organisms contain complex mixtures of chemicals, the products and by-products of metabolism. Although mass spectrometry

was routinely used to identify specific classes of metabolites starting in the mid-1950s (Milestone 7), it would take another decade before researchers began using the technique to examine

complex metabolite mixtures. In one early example, E.C. Horning and colleagues separated and characterized organic compounds from urine, mainly acids and steroids, using gas-liquid

chromatography and confirming chemical identity by mass spectrometry. In 1971, they extended their analysis to include drugs and drug metabolites, initiating the use of the method as a means

of establishing a 'metabolic profile' of an individual. This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution ACCESS OPTIONS Access through your institution

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Contact customer support REFERENCES ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPERS * Dalgliesh, C.E., Horning, E.C., Horning, M.G., Knox, K.L. & Yarger, K. Gas-liquid-chromatographic procedure for separating

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FURTHER READING * McFadden, W.H., Teranishi, R., Corse, J., Black, D.R. & Mon, T.R. Volatiles from strawberries. II. Combined mass spectrometry and gas chromatography on complex

mixtures. _J. Chromatogr._ 18, 10–19 (1965) Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Allen, J. et al. _High-throughput classification of yeast mutants for functional genomics using metabolic

footprinting._ _Nat. Biotechnol._ 21, 692–696 (2003)10.1038/nbt823 Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Fischer, E. & Sauer, U. Metabolic flux profiling of _Escherichia coli_ mutants in

central carbon metabolism using GC-MS. _Eur. J. Biochem._ 270, 880–891 (2003) Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Smith, C.A., Want, E.J., O'Maille, G., Abagyan, R. & Siuzdak, G. XCMS:

processing mass spectrometry data for metabolite profiling using nonlinear peak alignment, matching, and identification. _Anal. Chem._ 78, 779–787 (2006) Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Associate Editor, Nature Communications, Kyle Legate Authors * Kyle Legate View author publications You can also search for

this author inPubMed Google Scholar RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Legate, K. Seeing the full picture of metabolism. _Nat Methods_ 12

(Suppl 1), 14 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmeth.3529 Download citation * Published: 10 September 2015 * Issue Date: October 2015 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nmeth.3529 SHARE THIS

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