In vivo and ex vivo high-resolution 1H NMR in biological systems using low-speed magic angle spinning

Abstract

Metabolism refers to the network of interacting chemical processes that constitute (and define) cell life and provide the chemical energy and materials required for all work at the cellular and whole-organism levels. These processes take the form of metabolic pathways, an interdependent network of chemical reactions that is regulated by catalytic enzymes. Metabolites are chemical compounds that participate as reactants (substrates), intermediate compounds, or byproducts in a cellular metabolic pathway, and include carbon compounds with a molecular weight typically in the range 100-1000, which are usually present as solutes in the cytoplasm. Four broad classes of such metabolites can be distinguished [Alberts et al 1989]: sugars, the food molecules of the cell; fatty acids, present as droplets of triglyceride molecules in the cells and serving as energy resources, and as phospholipids present in the cell membranes; amino acids, the subunits of proteins; and nucleotides, the subunits of RNA and DNA, that can also act as carriers of chemical energy (adenosine triphosphate, i.e. ATP). Metabolomics involves characterizing the metabolic composition of a single cell type measured under defined physiological conditions and can be considered as analogous to genomics or proteomics [Lindon et al 2003]. Metabonomics involves quantitative studies of the changesmore » in the metabolic profiles of living systems in response to patho-physiological stimuli or genetic modification [Nicholson et al 1999, Lindon 2003]. Metabolic changes are the earliest cellular response to environmental or physiological changes such as toxin exposure or disease state, so a snapshot of the various metabolite concentrations within cells, tissues, or biofluids, and how these concentrations change under different physiological, pharmacological and toxicological conditions provides valuable information that is complementary to gene expression and proteomic studies. Hence metabol(n)omics may be capable of, e.g., detecting and diagnosing a disease or evaluating the efficacy of therapy in an early stage, and provide powerful new tools for gaining insight into functional biology.« less