Metabolomics & Systems Biology

Single Cell Metabolomics

Metabolites found in a specific cell, organ, or organism as the full complement of small-molecule the term metabolome is used. In the area of cancer  single-cell metabolomics is the most interesting potential application. In other fields  like systems biology, stem cell research, aging, and the development of drug resistance; more generally, it could be used to discover cells’ chemical strategies for coping with chemical or environmental stress. Metabolomics provides a more immediate and dynamic picture of the functionality (i.e., of the phenotype) of a cell  relative to other single-cell “-omics” measurements,  but it is the most difficult to measure. Its very challenging to analysis of  metabolites by mass spectrometry  due to the very limited volume and inherent molecular complexity of the sample.   By aggregate analysis of multiple cells  Quantitative metabolomic analysis of individual cells provides information on the metabolic heterogeneity of cells . Quantitative analysis for a broad class of metabolites exhibiting both high sensitivity and selectivity can offer by MS Depending on the ionization method . Metabolites can be analyze  from broad range of biological samples, including single cells and small cell populations by Laser ablation electrospray ionization (LAESI).