Abstract
Metabolomics, which is the profiling of metabolites in biofluids, cells and tissues, is routinely applied as a tool for biomarker discovery. Owing to innovative developments in informatics and analytical technologies, and the integration of orthogonal biological approaches, it is now possible to expand metabolomic analyses to understand the systems-level effects of metabolites. Moreover, because of the inherent sensitivity of metabolomics, subtle alterations in biological pathways can be detected to provide insight into the mechanisms that underlie various physiological conditions and aberrant processes, including diseases.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Nadine Levin at UCLA for her comments on the manuscript. Funding for this work was supported by US National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants R01 GM114368 and PO1 A1043376-02S1.
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Johnson, C., Ivanisevic, J. & Siuzdak, G. Metabolomics: beyond biomarkers and towards mechanisms. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 17, 451–459 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrm.2016.25
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrm.2016.25
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