A power law distribution of metabolite abundance levels in mice regardless of the time and spatial scale of analysis

Shumpei Sato,Mitsutoshi Setou,Tomohito Sato,Makoto Horikawa,Takeshi Kondo

doi:10.1038/s41598-018-28667-5

Shumpei Sato, Mitsutoshi Setou + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-28667-5

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Abstract

Biomolecule abundance levels change with the environment and enable a living system to adapt to the new conditions. Although, the living system maintains at least some characteristics, e.g. homeostasis. One of the characteristics maintained by a living system is a power law distribution of biomolecule abundance levels. Previous studies have pointed to a universal characteristic of biochemical reaction networks, with data obtained from lysates of multiple cells. As a result, the spatial scale of the data related to the power law distribution of biomolecule abundance levels is not clear. In this study, we researched the scaling law of metabolites in mouse tissue with a spatial scale of quantification that was changed stepwise between a whole-tissue section and a single-point analysis (25 μm). As a result, metabolites in mouse tissues were found to follow the power law distribution independently of the spatial scale of analysis. Additionally, we tested the temporal changes by comparing data from younger and older mice. Both followed similar power law distributions, indicating that metabolite composition is not diversified by aging to disrupt the power law distribution. The power law distribution of metabolite abundance is thus a robust characteristic of a living system regardless of time and space.

Highlights

Biomolecule abundance levels change depending on the environmental conditions and enable a living system to adapt to the new conditions[1]
The power law distribution of biomolecule abundance was previously reported for the proteome and metabolome after the comprehensive analysis of mass spectrometry omics data[14,15]
The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the ordered distribution of peak intensities constructed from the averaged mass spectrum of a region of interest (ROI) always follows the power law distribution even when the size of an ROI is reduced (Fig. 1A)

Summary

Introduction

Biomolecule abundance levels change depending on the environmental conditions and enable a living system to adapt to the new conditions[1]. The power law distribution of biomolecule abundance was previously reported for the proteome and metabolome after the comprehensive analysis of mass spectrometry omics data[14,15] The results of these studies suggest that the power law is a universal feature of biomolecule abundance levels in a living system; many biomolecules are present at low abundance levels and only a few at very high levels. We tested whether the peak intensities in an averaged mass spectrum of mouse tissues followed a power law distribution in a region of any size, in other words, according to changes in the number of measuring points This analysis helped us evaluate the spatial scale that the power law distribution of biomolecule abundance levels can be observed. We analyzed the IMS data to clarify the change in the power law distribution of metabolite abundance levels over time and space

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