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Publications

Journal Article Review Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Ppublish 27 citations

PubMed: 36916532 DOI: 10.15252/embr.202255747

Metabolomics meets systems immunology.

EMBO Rep 24(4):e55747

Authors: Jianbo Fu, Feng Zhu, Cheng-Jian Xu, Yang Li

Affiliations

  • Centre for Individualised Infection Medicine (CiiM), a joint venture between the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) and Hannover Medical School (MHH), Hannover, Germany.
  • TWINCORE Centre for Experimental and Clinical Infection Research, a joint venture between the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) and the Hannover Medical School (MHH), Hannover, Germany.
  • College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
  • Department of Internal Medicine and Radboud Center for Infectious Diseases, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
  • Centre for Individualised Infection Medicine (CiiM), a joint venture between the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) and Hannover Medical School (MHH), Hannover, Germany. TWINCORE Centre for Experimental and Clinical Infection Research, a joint venture between the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) and the Hannover Medical School (MHH), Hannover, Germany. Department of Internal Medicine and Radboud Center for Infectious Diseases, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

Abstract

Metabolic processes play a critical role in immune regulation. Metabolomics is the systematic analysis of small molecules (metabolites) in organisms or biological samples, providing an opportunity to comprehensively study interactions between metabolism and immunity in physiology and disease. Integrating metabolomics into systems immunology allows the exploration of the interactions of multilayered features in the biological system and the molecular regulatory mechanism of these features. Here, we provide an overview on recent technological developments of metabolomic applications in immunological research. To begin, two widely used metabolomics approaches are compared: targeted and untargeted metabolomics. Then, we provide a comprehensive overview of the analysis workflow and the computational tools available, including sample preparation, raw spectra data preprocessing, data processing, statistical analysis, and interpretation. Third, we describe how to integrate metabolomics with other omics approaches in immunological studies using available tools. Finally, we discuss new developments in metabolomics and its prospects for immunology research. This review provides guidance to researchers using metabolomics and multiomics in immunity research, thus facilitating the application of systems immunology to disease research.

MeSH

Molecular Biology, Metabolomics, Immunity, Research, Infections, Immunology

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