The CIT is a state-of-the-art small molecule omics shared resource center and collaborative analytical facility specializing in a range of mass spectrometry and confocal screening techniques. The facility can measure the complex array of small molecule metabolites present within a fluid, cell, or tissue and can identify reproducible steady state and/or temporal changes associated with disease state or drug administration for context dependent analysis.
Afterward, metabolite identifications are assigned based on high mass accuracy measurements, isotope distributions, tandem MS fragmentation patterns, and comparisons with spectral libraries and standards. Consequently, the results can reveal unique biochemical fingerprints of cellular processes specific to each sample. This can be exploited as a discovery-based approach for generating novel hypotheses or used for a better understanding of physiological processes mediated by genetic or environmental perturbations. If needed, new workflows can be established for method development, targeted biomolecule measurement acquisition, and/or metabolite validation.
We support investigators in numerous phases of the analytical pipeline and provide a number of routine and/or advanced services depending on the goals of the individual research projects.
Areas of focus include:
- Mass spectrometry
- Small molecule omics analyses (discovery and/or validation workflows)
- Data processing & interpretation (filtering “noise”, data mining/prioritization, pathway interpretation, clarification of biol. mechanism)