Microtechnology meets systems biology: the small molecules of metabolome as next big targets.
Microtechnology meets systems biology: the small molecules of metabolome as next big targets.
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DOI：
10.1016/j.jbiotec.2010.05.002
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发表时间：
2010-08
影响因子：
4.1
通讯作者：
Matthias Wurm;B. Schöpke;D. Lutz;Jörg Müller;An-Ping Zeng
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Matthias Wurm;B. Schöpke;D. Lutz;Jörg Müller;An-Ping Zeng
系统生物学的主要目标之一是研究和控制生物过程中的相互作用的组件在不同的分子水平。基因组测序、转录组学和蛋白质组学的进展为在基因和蛋白质水平上系统分析细胞过程铺平了道路。然而，仍然缺乏对细胞内小分子进行可靠和系统分析的工具，即所谓的代谢组学。由于代谢物的浓度通常非常低、转换率高和化学多样性，它们在生理、体内和动态条件下的定量对从基因组到细胞功能的真实的系统生物学方法提出了重大挑战和缺失的环节。为此，微流体技术可以发挥重要作用，因为它具有独特的特性，如样品处理和分析的高空间和时间分辨率。尽管近年来在微技术方面取得了令人印象深刻的进展，但许多微流体研究或装置仍然停留在原理验证的水平，很少应用于代谢组学分析的真实的世界。在这篇综述文章中，我们首先提出了在复杂的生物系统中确定体内代谢动力学的主要障碍和挑战。微流控技术的发展，其特点和可能的应用，以解决代谢组学分析中的一些引人注目的问题进行了讨论。重点指出了现有设备和技术的不足，以及进一步发展的方向，以满足系统生物学的特殊需要。
One of the key objectives of systems biology is to study and control biological processes in terms of interactions of components at different molecular levels. Advances in genome sequencing, transcriptomics and proteomics have paved the way for a systemic analysis of cellular processes at gene and protein levels. However, tools are still missing for a reliable and systemic analysis of the small molecules inside cells, the so-called metabolome. Due to the generally very low concentration, high turn-over rate and chemical diversity of metabolites their quantification under physiological, in vivo and dynamic conditions presents major challenges and the missing link for a real systems biology approach on the way from genome to cellular function. To this end, microfluidics can play an important role owing to its unique characteristics such as highly spatial and temporal resolution of sample treatment and analysis. Despite impressive progresses in microtechnology in recent years, many of the microfluidic studies or devices remain at the level of proof-of-principle and have been seldom applied to the real world of metabolomic analysis. In this review article, we first present the major obstacles and challenges for determining in vivo metabolite dynamics in complex biological systems. The progresses in microfluidics, their characteristics and possible applications to solving some of the compelling problems in metabolomic analysis are then discussed. Emphases are put on pinpointing the deficits of the presently available devices and technologies and directions for further development to fulfill the special need of systems biology.