Abstract: Quantitative global analysis of endogenous metabolites from cells, tissues, fluids or whole organisms - metabolomics, is becoming an integral part of functional genomics efforts as well as a tool for understanding fundamental biochemistry. Where the genome and proteome represent upstream biochemical events, the metabolites correlate with the most downstream biochemistry and therefore most closely represent the phenotype. This has been proven by the broad success of metabolite analysis in clinical diagnostics. The experimental aim in our studies is to obtain a comprehensive quantitative view of the metabolome to expand our understanding of what pathways are altered in specific diseases. We have developed multiple novel mass spectrometry platforms for metabolomics including both solution-based approaches and surface-based mass spectrometry, such as nanostructure-initiator mass spectrometry (NIMS) for tissue imaging, to address this problem. These platforms will be presented in the context of its application to discovering new disease therapies/pathways for chronic pain and multiple sclerosis.
Additional Information: Gary Siuzdak is Senior Director of the Scripps Center for Mass Spectrometry and Professor of Molecular Biology at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California (http://masspec.scripps.edu/). He is also Faculty Guest at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and served as Vice President of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry. His research includes developing novel approaches to metabolomics, the development of nanostructure-initiated desorption/ionization, intact viral analysis, preparative mass spectrometry, and mass-based inhibitor-enzyme screening. He has over 170 peer-reviewed publications and two books, the latest being The Expanding Role of Mass Spectrometry in Biotechnology, 2nd Edition 2006.
CSSB Distinguished Lecture Series: Fall 2010
10/26/2010 - Gary Siuzdak, The Scripps Research Institute
11/09/2010 - Charles Cantor, Boston University
11/11/2010 - Kristin Brown, GlaxoSmithKline
11/30/2010 - JoAnne Stubbe, MIT
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