Metabolomics - Gaining Prominence In Drug Discovery
The decoding of the human genome produced two distinct studies popularly called genomics
and proteomics that deal with the aspects of genes and proteins respectively and are said to possess extensive clinical potential. In the presence of these two"-omics studies, a new study has emerged that is believed to provide cost effective, quick and effectual methods of disease diagnosis and facilitates effective monitoring of administered therapies in patients - Metabolomics.
The study of metabolite profiles in biofluids and biological samples such as blood plasma, saliva, and urine is termed as Metabolomics. Metabolites are the by-products or the residues of metabolism. Metabolism can be defined as the process of transformation of food energy into mechanical energy or heat energy, which is an increasing area of interest for research scientists. The varieties of metabolites present in the human body range from 2,500-3,000 and sometimes as high as 20,000. This is observed to be very low when compared with the range of 29,000, and 100,000 of genes and proteins respectively. The area of interest of scientific researchers is particularly in the small low-molecular-weight compounds of metabolomics that act as substrates and products in numerous metabolic pathways. These molecules, termed as small molecules, include compounds such as amino acids, sugars, and lipids that offer prominent clues about an individual's health conditions.
The metabolome, regarded as the collection of metabolites in a cell at a given point of time, is an indicator of the cell's physiological state during sampling. The human body consists of billions of cells of different varieties, with potentially diverse metabolomes. The genes and proteins present in the cell are responsible for varied responses such as cell signaling, energy transfer, and cell-to-cell communication usually regulated by metabolites. The gene and protein expression are closely related and metabolite expressions closely reflect the actual cellular environment that is governed by pollutant exposures, drug, nutrition, and other exogenous factors, which influence health. Genomics and proteomics studies indicate what may happen, where as metabolomics indicates what actually did happen.
Prominent among the tools being used for metabolomic research are mass spectrometry (MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The data thus collected is then analyzed by appropriate bioinformatics suites. Most of the tools used for metabolomic research are already in use, though their sensitivity and sophistication continues to be refined. High-throughput methods such as nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and mass spectroscopy (MS) using robotic automation are used for data collection in metabolomics. This can be regarded as an excellent tool for quick collection of vast amount of information pertaining to molecular composition in a given sample. When an individual is affected with a disease, his/her metabolism gets affected and this change in metabolism can be utilized as an indicator for treatment of the same.
Metabolomics research activities are gaining prominence day by day. Several institutes and research centers in the field of metabolomics are cropping up to explore the possibilities in the field of Metabolism and Structural Biology. These research organizations aim at bringing people from various fields in a single platform with an ultimate goal of developing metabolomics technology and integrating metabolomics with the broader universe of systems biology. Metabolite flux analysis, metabolic profiling, and biochemical modeling are some important activities in metabolomics research.
Research in the industry is also on an upswing owing to the enthusiasm of pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. They are mainly concentrating on the application of metabolite profiles as potential tools for drug discovery. The process of applying the tools of metabolite analysis (NMR and MS) to evaluate metabolite variations in biofluids is underway.
Drastic mutations in low molecular weight compounds, requires more than a single technique for metabolomics analysis. Traditionally, mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance are the two major platforms used for the study of metabolomics. For the past few years, the most commonly used methodologies in systems biology for exploring drug discovery have been genomics and proteomics. Now, metabolomics complements these two methods offering scientists a powerful tool that can uncover enormous amounts of information. The main difference between genomics/proteomics and metabolomics is that while the earlier methods studied genes and proteins, metabolomics focuses on metabolites, which are the substrates and end products of enzymatic reactions. Metabolites are compounds of low molecular weight, which determine the unique characteristics (phenotype) of an organism. This facilitates the identification of specific biological conditions, whether they are healthy or diseased.
While work on detecting and quantifying several metabolites has been continuing for decades, it is only now that scientists are able to compile a complete metabolic profile of an organism. Today research in metabolomics is directed at tracing out specific metabolites corresponding with specific disease states to facilitate drug development.
While metabolomics is a rapidly growing area, the baseline is small. Major pharmaceutical companies have been comparatively slow to adopt it, as against the wide use of genomics and proteomics. There are fears about genomics and proteomics leaving many questions unanswered and, hence, the skepticism about metabolomics is also the same. Increasing use of technology is winning over many skeptics, and widespread use of metabolomics will happen only after high profile successes.
Though metabolomics is still in evolution stage, biotechnology and/or pharmaceutical industry is expected to apply this technology more intensely in the near future. Metabolomics advantage is expected to provide effective results throughput the drug discovery and development process the discovery, pre-clinical development, clinical trials and post market drug monitoring stages.
RI Technologies, http://researchimpact.com/, a premier market research company, brings out the potential of Metabolomics at the global and regional level, in its latest update. This report gives an insight into Metabolomics Technologies - Combined/Integrated Systems, Hardware Systems for metabolic analytics, and Software Systems. For more information, please visit
http://researchimpact.com/MIR004_METABOLOMICS.aspxCustomer Support: contactus@researchimpact.com/Phone: India: +91 9676994272/UK: 076-24-057837
by: researchimpact
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