Elemental mass spectrometry for compartmental biological modeling.

Abstract

Elemental/inorganic mass spectrometry is a valuable and appealing technique to obtain stable isotope data for compartmental modeling of biological processes. “Biological processes” encompass biochemical reactions, enzyme kinetics, nutrient metabolism, drug metabolism, and mineral and trace element metabolism. The complexity of these biological processes requires special techniques for their characteri-zation. Mathematical simulation by compartmental modeling is the computational concept that is most widely used to systemize biological processes, and stable isotope analysis by plasma source mass spectrometry (PSMS) has become a reliable and versatile means to provide data for these models (Barnes, 1996, 1998a, b; Becker and Dietz, 1998; Vanhaecke et al., 1999a; Becker and Dietz, 2000). Effective PSMS systems shorten analysis time, extend element isotope coverage, and enhance detection sensitivity, precision, and accuracy. Some noteworthy applications combining compartmental modeling with stable isotope/inorganic mass spectrometry to study trace metal metabo-lism, drug and nutrient metabolism, and biokinetics are described here.KeywordsStable IsotopeIsotope RatioInductively Couple Plasma Mass SpectrometryInductively Couple PlasmaInductively Couple Plasma Mass SpectrometerThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.