Special Issue "Analytical Techniques in Metabolomics"

Guest Editor
Dr. Per Bruheim
Department of Biotechnology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7034 Trondheim, Norway
Website: http://www.ntnu.edu/employees/per.bruheim
E-Mail: per.bruheim@biotech.ntnu.no
Interests: mass spectrometry; metabolomics; metabolic engineering; secondary metabolites; biomakers

Dear Colleagues,

Metabolomics face particular analytical challenges due to the diverse physico-chemical properties of the metabolites; ranging from highly negatively charged organic acids and phosphometabolites to hydrophobic species such as fatty acids, steroids and pigments. Hence, at present no single analytical method can cover the whole Metabolome. Mass spectrometry (MS) and magnetic resonance (NMR) are the two main analytical technologies for analysis of metabolite pools, the former in combination with separation techniques as gas and liquid chromatography. Broadly, Metabolomics can be divided in two approaches: targeted and non-targeted analysis; the former delivering quantification of known metabolites while the latter approach is mostly used to classify samples and potential identification of unknown metabolites. Both approaches have benefitted strongly by recent technological developments, as the analytical instruments have become more sensitive and with higher resolution and accuracy.  Therefore, this special issue in Metabolites will cover both qualitative and quantitative analytical techniques used to analyze metabolite pools as well as aspects on sample preparation and data processing.

Dr. Per Bruheim
Guest Editor

Submission

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. Papers will be published continuously (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are refereed through a peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Metabolites is an international peer-reviewed Open Access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 300 CHF (Swiss Francs). English correction and/or formatting fees of 250 CHF (Swiss Francs) will be charged in certain cases for those articles accepted for publication that require extensive additional formatting and/or English corrections.

Type of Paper: Article 
Title: The Comparison of Lipid Extraction Methods for the "Lipidomic" Analysis of Blood Plasma and Brown Adipose Tissue by H1 Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy 
Author: Clare A. Daykin 
Affiliation: Analytical Biosciences, Division of Molecular and Cellular Science, Centre for Biomolecular Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK; E-mail: clare.daykin@nottingham.ac.uk
Abstract: Whilst lipids can be studied in whole biosamples (whether fluids or tissues) using various NMR spectroscopy-based spectral editing methods without sample extraction, if these methods are used in isolation, valuable information may be lost.  Hence, the evaluation of methods which will allow efficient and reproducible extraction of lipids from biosamples is critical.  In the literature, many different protocols for lipid extraction are reported, however; there is a severe lack of data comparing their efficacy and reproducibility.  This study has therefore investigated the variations among different methods by extracting lipids from blood plasma and brown adipose tissue.  The results presented here show that these lipid extraction methods vary considerably in the recovery of lipids and a judicious choice is crucial for optimal extraction.  Whilst the chloroform/methanol based Bligh and Dyer extraction method appears to be the most reproducible method, it requires large amounts of sample and is known to underestimate lipid concentrations in samples where lipids constitute > 2% of the sample. On the other hand, the Folch method allows the detection of more lipids and at higher concentrations than other methods whilst retaining the advantage of relatively good reproducibility.