Strategies in biomarker discovery. Peak annotation by MS and targeted LC-MS micro-fractionation for de novo structure identification by micro-NMR

Metabolomics as a Tool to Understand Pathophysiological Processes

Multiple diseases have a strong metabolic component, and metabolomics as a powerful phenotyping technology, in combination with orthogonal biological and clinical approaches, will undoubtedly play a determinant role in accelerating the understanding of mechanisms that underlie these complex diseases determined by a set of genetic, lifestyle, and environmental exposure factors. Here, we provide several examples of valuable findings from metabolomics-led studies in diabetes and obesity metabolism, neurodegenerative disorders, and cancer metabolism and offer a longer term vision toward personalized approach to medicine, from population-based studies to pharmacometabolomics.

The re-emergence of natural products for drug discovery in the genomics era

Natural products have been a rich source of compounds for drug discovery. However, their use has diminished in the past two decades, in part because of technical barriers to screening natural products in high-throughput assays against molecular targets. Here, we review strategies for natural product screening that harness the recent technical advances that have reduced these barriers. We also assess the use of genomic and metabolomic approaches to augment traditional methods of studying natural products, and highlight recent examples of natural products in antimicrobial drug discovery and as inhibitors of protein-protein interactions. The growing appreciation of functional assays and phenotypic screens may further contribute to a revival of interest in natural products for drug discovery.

Next-generation technologies for multiomics approaches including interactome sequencing

The development of high-speed analytical techniques such as next-generation sequencing and microarrays allows high-throughput analysis of biological information at a low cost. These techniques contribute to medical and bioscience advancements and provide new avenues for scientific research. Here, we outline a variety of new innovative techniques and discuss their use in omics research (e.g., genomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics, proteomics, and interactomics). We also discuss the possible applications of these methods, including an interactome sequencing technology that we developed, in future medical and life science research.