The metabolome is a dynamic network that regulates many cellular processes. While metabolomic analysis can provide a snapshot of the metabolome at any given time, metabolic flux analysis holds the key to observing the true dynamics of a system.
Stable isotope labeling for LC-MS analysis is one of the primary approaches to studying metabolic flux. Using this approach, it is possible to model the kinetics and dynamics of particular pathways according to which species incorporate the heavy label through biosynthesis. This is a challenging approach as the presence of the labeled species increases the complexity of the dataset, and relies on comprehensive and complete data to localize the label and subsequently trace its origin.
SCIEX solutions for metabolic flux analysis employ high-performance quantitative techniques to allow the targeting of predicted flux pathways, and global flux analysis without compromising on data completeness. This ensures sufficient information to identify and localize labeled metabolites while simultaneously acquiring quantitative data that can be used in kinetic models.
