title: Basics of mass spectrometry based metabolomics.
abstract: The emerging field of metabolomics, aiming to characterize small molecule metabolites present in biological systems, promises immense potential for different areas such as medicine, environmental sciences, agronomy, etc. The purpose of this article is to guide the reader through the history of the field, then through the main steps of the metabolomics workflow, from study design to structure elucidation, and help the reader to understand the key phases of a metabolomics investigation and the rationale underlying the protocols and techniques used. This article is not intended to give standard operating procedures as several papers related to this topic were already provided, but is designed as a tutorial aiming to help beginners understand the concept and challenges of MS-based metabolomics. A real case example is taken from the literature to illustrate the application of the metabolomics approach in the field of doping analysis. Challenges and limitations of the approach are then discussed along with future directions in research to cope with these limitations. This tutorial is part of the International Proteomics Tutorial Programme (IPTP18).
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Sciences and Public Health, University of Montpellier 1, UMR 5569 Hydrosciences, Montpellier, France; Laboratoire d'Etude des Résidus et Contaminants dans les Aliments (LABERCA), LUNAM Université Oniris, USC INRA 1329, Nantes, France.
authors.forename: Frédérique
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Courant
authors.forename: Jean-Philippe
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Antignac
authors.forename: Gaud
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dervilly-Pinel
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Le Bizec
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D055432:Metabolomics / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D049490:Systems Biology / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D057188:Workflow
keywords: Challenges; Future directions; Mass spectrometry; Metabolomics; Systems biology; Workflow