OMICS analysis: Proteomics – Lipidomics – Metabolomics

Liquid chromatography (LC) and mass spectrometry (MS) is  used to separate and analyze polar compounds from a complex mixture. Quantitative comparison between experimental groups can reveal changes in abundances in complex mixtures from tissue, cells, plasma or other extracts.  Typically polar molecules are separated on a C18 HPLC column with water/methanol or water / acetonitrile mobile phases. If the LC is coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) the compounds eluting from the column can be fragmented and provides structural/sequence information.

  • Proteomics, Metabolomics and Lipidomics studies the large-scale changes in small molecules, lipids or proteins from perturbations of biological systems.
  • Important in environmental sciences, pharmacology, nutrition, biophysics, cell biology, pathology and disease diagnostics
  • Significant challenges in sample preparation, chromatography, ionization, and mass analyses and bioinformatics.

Due to the complex nature of these investigations, sophisticated software is essential for evaluating results. Tools such as Mascot and Proteome Discover for proteomics, Metaboscape for lipidomics and metabolomics, and Compound Discover for metabolomics, as well as other software systems are used to process and evaluate your data.

MSREC utilizes ultra-high resolution LC-MS for all our Omics applications. These services are also available for targeted, semi-targeted, or untargeted omic-analysis.

  • Proteomics
    • The Thermo Q Exactive Orbitrap with nanoLC is most commonly used.
    • For 4-D proteomics with mobility separation, the Bruker timsTOF Pro2 with capillaryUPLC can also be applied.
  • Lipidomics
    • The Bruker timsTOF Pro2 with capillary UPLC and mobility separation is used.
    • Fatty acid methyl esterification (FAME) can also be performed on the Thermo Exploris GC-MS Orbitrap.
  • Metabolomics
    • The Bruker Impact II QqTOF with UPLC is most commonly used.
    • For 4-D metabolomics with isobaric mobility separation, the Bruker timsTOF Pro2 with capillary UPLC can also be used.
    • For volatile metabolomics, GC-MS on the Thermo Exploris GC-MS Orbitrap can be used.