MetaboAnalyst 4.0: towards more transparent and integrative metabolomics analysis.
TL;DR: The user interface of MetaboAnalyst 4.0 has been reengineered to provide a more modern look and feel, as well as to give more space and flexibility to introduce new functions.
Abstract: We present a new update to MetaboAnalyst (version 4.0) for comprehensive metabolomic data analysis, interpretation, and integration with other omics data. Since the last major update in 2015, MetaboAnalyst has continued to evolve based on user feedback and technological advancements in the field. For this year's update, four new key features have been added to MetaboAnalyst 4.0, including: (1) real-time R command tracking and display coupled with the release of a companion MetaboAnalystR package; (2) a MS Peaks to Pathways module for prediction of pathway activity from untargeted mass spectral data using the mummichog algorithm; (3) a Biomarker Meta-analysis module for robust biomarker identification through the combination of multiple metabolomic datasets and (4) a Network Explorer module for integrative analysis of metabolomics, metagenomics, and/or transcriptomics data. The user interface of MetaboAnalyst 4.0 has been reengineered to provide a more modern look and feel, as well as to give more space and flexibility to introduce new functions. The underlying knowledgebases (compound libraries, metabolite sets, and metabolic pathways) have also been updated based on the latest data from the Human Metabolome Database (HMDB). A Docker image of MetaboAnalyst is also available to facilitate download and local installation of MetaboAnalyst. MetaboAnalyst 4.0 is freely available at http://metaboanalyst.ca.
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TL;DR: This initial observational study identified amino acid and fatty acid metabolism as correlates of COVID-19, providing mechanistic insights, potential markers of clinical severity, and potential therapeutic targets.
Abstract: BACKGROUNDReprogramming of host metabolism supports viral pathogenesis by fueling viral proliferation, by providing, for example, free amino acids and fatty acids as building blocksMETHODSTo investigate metabolic effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection, we evaluated serum metabolites of patients with COVID-19 (n = 33; diagnosed by nucleic acid testing), as compared with COVID-19-negative controls (n = 16)RESULTSTargeted and untargeted metabolomics analyses identified altered tryptophan metabolism into the kynurenine pathway, which regulates inflammation and immunity Indeed, these changes in tryptophan metabolism correlated with interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels Widespread dysregulation of nitrogen metabolism was also seen in infected patients, with altered levels of most amino acids, along with increased markers of oxidant stress (eg, methionine sulfoxide, cystine), proteolysis, and renal dysfunction (eg, creatine, creatinine, polyamines) Increased circulating levels of glucose and free fatty acids were also observed, consistent with altered carbon homeostasis Interestingly, metabolite levels in these pathways correlated with clinical laboratory markers of inflammation (ie, IL-6 and C-reactive protein) and renal function (ie, blood urea nitrogen)CONCLUSIONIn conclusion, this initial observational study identified amino acid and fatty acid metabolism as correlates of COVID-19, providing mechanistic insights, potential markers of clinical severity, and potential therapeutic targetsFUNDINGBoettcher Foundation Webb-Waring Biomedical Research Award; National Institute of General and Medical Sciences, NIH; and National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, NIH
359 citations
TL;DR: This document envisage that this document will serve as a guide to metabolomics researchers and other members of the community wishing to perform multi-omics studies and believe that these ideas may allow the full promise of integratedmulti-omics research and, ultimately, of systems biology to be realized.
Abstract: The use of multiple omics techniques (i.e., genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics) is becoming increasingly popular in all facets of life science. Omics techniques provide a more holistic molecular perspective of studied biological systems compared to traditional approaches. However, due to their inherent data differences, integrating multiple omics platforms remains an ongoing challenge for many researchers. As metabolites represent the downstream products of multiple interactions between genes, transcripts, and proteins, metabolomics, the tools and approaches routinely used in this field could assist with the integration of these complex multi-omics data sets. The question is, how? Here we provide some answers (in terms of methods, software tools and databases) along with a variety of recommendations and a list of continuing challenges as identified during a peer session on multi-omics integration that was held at the recent 'Australian and New Zealand Metabolomics Conference' (ANZMET 2018) in Auckland, New Zealand (Sept. 2018). We envisage that this document will serve as a guide to metabolomics researchers and other members of the community wishing to perform multi-omics studies. We also believe that these ideas may allow the full promise of integrated multi-omics research and, ultimately, of systems biology to be realized.
356 citations
TL;DR: Combining chronic demyelination paradigms and cell sorting with RNA sequencing and lipidomics, it is found that wild-type microglia acquire a disease-associated transcriptional state, while TREM2-deficientmicroglia remain largely homeostatic, leading to neuronal damage.
318 citations
TL;DR: Quantitative metabolomics methods provide a comprehensive characterization of the nutrients present in the tumor microenvironment of widely used models of lung and pancreatic cancer and identify factors that influence metabolite levels in tumors.
Abstract: Cancer cell metabolism is heavily influenced by microenvironmental factors, including nutrient availability. Therefore, knowledge of microenvironmental nutrient levels is essential to understand tumor metabolism. To measure the extracellular nutrient levels available to tumors, we utilized quantitative metabolomics methods to measure the absolute concentrations of >118 metabolites in plasma and tumor interstitial fluid, the extracellular fluid that perfuses tumors. Comparison of nutrient levels in tumor interstitial fluid and plasma revealed that the nutrients available to tumors differ from those present in circulation. Further, by comparing interstitial fluid nutrient levels between autochthonous and transplant models of murine pancreatic and lung adenocarcinoma, we found that tumor type, anatomical location and animal diet affect local nutrient availability. These data provide a comprehensive characterization of the nutrients present in the tumor microenvironment of widely used models of lung and pancreatic cancer and identify factors that influence metabolite levels in tumors.
302 citations
TL;DR: MetaboAnalyst 5.0 as discussed by the authors extends the previous 2011 Nature Protocol by providing stepwise instructions to optimize parameters for LC-HRMS spectra processing; obtain functional insights from peak list data; integrate metabolomics data with transcriptomics data or combine multiple metabolomics datasets; conduct exploratory statistical analysis with complex metadata.
Abstract: Liquid chromatography coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) has become a workhorse in global metabolomics studies with growing applications across biomedical and environmental sciences. However, outstanding bioinformatics challenges in terms of data processing, statistical analysis and functional interpretation remain critical barriers to the wider adoption of this technology. To help the user community overcome these barriers, we have made major updates to the well-established MetaboAnalyst platform ( www.metaboanalyst.ca ). This protocol extends the previous 2011 Nature Protocol by providing stepwise instructions on how to use MetaboAnalyst 5.0 to: optimize parameters for LC-HRMS spectra processing; obtain functional insights from peak list data; integrate metabolomics data with transcriptomics data or combine multiple metabolomics datasets; conduct exploratory statistical analysis with complex metadata. Parameter optimization may take ~2 h to complete depending on the server load, and the remaining three stages may be executed in ~60 min.
279 citations
References
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TL;DR: The Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) method as discussed by the authors focuses on gene sets, that is, groups of genes that share common biological function, chromosomal location, or regulation.
Abstract: Although genomewide RNA expression analysis has become a routine tool in biomedical research, extracting biological insight from such information remains a major challenge. Here, we describe a powerful analytical method called Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) for interpreting gene expression data. The method derives its power by focusing on gene sets, that is, groups of genes that share common biological function, chromosomal location, or regulation. We demonstrate how GSEA yields insights into several cancer-related data sets, including leukemia and lung cancer. Notably, where single-gene analysis finds little similarity between two independent studies of patient survival in lung cancer, GSEA reveals many biological pathways in common. The GSEA method is embodied in a freely available software package, together with an initial database of 1,325 biologically defined gene sets.
34,830 citations
TL;DR: The content has been expanded and the quality improved irrespective of whether or not the KOs appear in the three molecular network databases, and the newly introduced addendum category of the GENES database is a collection of individual proteins whose functions are experimentally characterized and from which an increasing number of KOs are defined.
Abstract: KEGG (http://www.kegg.jp/ or http://www.genome.jp/kegg/) is an encyclopedia of genes and genomes. Assigning functional meanings to genes and genomes both at the molecular and higher levels is the primary objective of the KEGG database project. Molecular-level functions are stored in the KO (KEGG Orthology) database, where each KO is defined as a functional ortholog of genes and proteins. Higher-level functions are represented by networks of molecular interactions, reactions and relations in the forms of KEGG pathway maps, BRITE hierarchies and KEGG modules. In the past the KO database was developed for the purpose of defining nodes of molecular networks, but now the content has been expanded and the quality improved irrespective of whether or not the KOs appear in the three molecular network databases. The newly introduced addendum category of the GENES database is a collection of individual proteins whose functions are experimentally characterized and from which an increasing number of KOs are defined. Furthermore, the DISEASE and DRUG databases have been improved by systematic analysis of drug labels for better integration of diseases and drugs with the KEGG molecular networks. KEGG is moving towards becoming a comprehensive knowledge base for both functional interpretation and practical application of genomic information.
5,741 citations
"MetaboAnalyst 4.0: towards more tra..." refers background in this paper
...For metabolites, MetaboAnalyst 4.0 currently accepts compound names, HMDB IDs or KEGG compound IDs as metabolite identifiers....
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...The knowledgebase for this module consists of five genome-scale metabolic models obtained from the original Python implementation which have either been manually curated or downloaded from BioCyc, as well as an expanded library of 21 organisms derived from the KEGG metabolic pathways....
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...For genes, Entrez IDs, ENSEMBL IDs, official gene symbols or KEGG orthologs are currently supported....
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...On the network visualization page, users can use their mouse or touchpad to zoom in and out, highlight, drag and drop nodes (except the KEGG global metabolic network), or click on a node/edge for further details....
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...The aim of this module is to provide users with an easy-to-use interface that permits the mapping of their metabolites and/or genes (including KEGG orthologs or KOs) onto different types of molecular interaction networks....
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TL;DR: An overview of the PubChem Substance and Compound databases is provided, including data sources and contents, data organization, data submission using PubChem Upload, chemical structure standardization, web-based interfaces for textual and non-textual searches, and programmatic access.
Abstract: PubChem (https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov) is a public repository for information on chemical substances and their biological activities, launched in 2004 as a component of the Molecular Libraries Roadmap Initiatives of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH). For the past 11 years, PubChem has grown to a sizable system, serving as a chemical information resource for the scientific research community. PubChem consists of three inter-linked databases, Substance, Compound and BioAssay. The Substance database contains chemical information deposited by individual data contributors to PubChem, and the Compound database stores unique chemical structures extracted from the Substance database. Biological activity data of chemical substances tested in assay experiments are contained in the BioAssay database. This paper provides an overview of the PubChem Substance and Compound databases, including data sources and contents, data organization, data submission using PubChem Upload, chemical structure standardization, web-based interfaces for textual and non-textual searches, and programmatic access. It also gives a brief description of PubChem3D, a resource derived from theoretical three-dimensional structures of compounds in PubChem, as well as PubChemRDF, Resource Description Framework (RDF)-formatted PubChem data for data sharing, analysis and integration with information contained in other databases.
3,328 citations
"MetaboAnalyst 4.0: towards more tra..." refers background in this paper
...MetaboAnalyst performs in-house mapping of common compound names to a wide variety of database identifiers including KEGG (20), HMDB (21), ChEBI (22), METLIN (23) and PubChem (24) prior to performing any functional analysis....
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TL;DR: A new generation of a popular open-source data processing toolbox, MZmine 2 is introduced, suitable for processing large batches of data and has been applied to both targeted and non-targeted metabolomic analyses.
Abstract: Mass spectrometry (MS) coupled with online separation methods is commonly applied for differential and quantitative profiling of biological samples in metabolomic as well as proteomic research. Such approaches are used for systems biology, functional genomics, and biomarker discovery, among others. An ongoing challenge of these molecular profiling approaches, however, is the development of better data processing methods. Here we introduce a new generation of a popular open-source data processing toolbox, MZmine 2. A key concept of the MZmine 2 software design is the strict separation of core functionality and data processing modules, with emphasis on easy usability and support for high-resolution spectra processing. Data processing modules take advantage of embedded visualization tools, allowing for immediate previews of parameter settings. Newly introduced functionality includes the identification of peaks using online databases, MSn data support, improved isotope pattern support, scatter plot visualization, and a new method for peak list alignment based on the random sample consensus (RANSAC) algorithm. The performance of the RANSAC alignment was evaluated using synthetic datasets as well as actual experimental data, and the results were compared to those obtained using other alignment algorithms. MZmine 2 is freely available under a GNU GPL license and can be obtained from the project website at: http://mzmine.sourceforge.net/
. The current version of MZmine 2 is suitable for processing large batches of data and has been applied to both targeted and non-targeted metabolomic analyses.
2,884 citations
"MetaboAnalyst 4.0: towards more tra..." refers methods in this paper
...A number of excellent methods have been developed to deal with the first two tasks (26,27), which typically yield a list of ‘clean’ MS peaks....
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TL;DR: This year's update to the HMDB, HMDB 4.0, represents the most significant upgrade to the database in its history and should greatly enhance its ease of use and its potential applications in nutrition, biochemistry, clinical chemistry, clinical genetics, medicine, and metabolomics science.
Abstract: The Human Metabolome Database or HMDB (www.hmdb.ca) is a web-enabled metabolomic database containing comprehensive information about human metabolites along with their biological roles, physiological concentrations, disease associations, chemical reactions, metabolic pathways, and reference spectra. First described in 2007, the HMDB is now considered the standard metabolomic resource for human metabolic studies. Over the past decade the HMDB has continued to grow and evolve in response to emerging needs for metabolomics researchers and continuing changes in web standards. This year's update, HMDB 4.0, represents the most significant upgrade to the database in its history. For instance, the number of fully annotated metabolites has increased by nearly threefold, the number of experimental spectra has grown by almost fourfold and the number of illustrated metabolic pathways has grown by a factor of almost 60. Significant improvements have also been made to the HMDB's chemical taxonomy, chemical ontology, spectral viewing, and spectral/text searching tools. A great deal of brand new data has also been added to HMDB 4.0. This includes large quantities of predicted MS/MS and GC-MS reference spectral data as well as predicted (physiologically feasible) metabolite structures to facilitate novel metabolite identification. Additional information on metabolite-SNP interactions and the influence of drugs on metabolite levels (pharmacometabolomics) has also been added. Many other important improvements in the content, the interface, and the performance of the HMDB website have been made and these should greatly enhance its ease of use and its potential applications in nutrition, biochemistry, clinical chemistry, clinical genetics, medicine, and metabolomics science.
2,608 citations
"MetaboAnalyst 4.0: towards more tra..." refers background in this paper
...For metabolites, MetaboAnalyst 4.0 currently accepts compound names, HMDB IDs or KEGG compound IDs as metabolite identifiers....
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...The last four networks are created based on information gathered primarily from HMDB and STITCH databases (43), and are applicable to human studies only....
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...This knowledgebase has been updated with HMDB Version 4.0, including updates of HMDB identifiers and links to other databases....
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...The underlying knowledgebases (compound libraries, metabolite sets, and metabolic pathways) have also been updated based on the latest data from the Human Metabolome Database (HMDB)....
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...MetaboAnalyst performs in-house mapping of common compound names to a wide variety of database identifiers including KEGG (20), HMDB (21), ChEBI (22), METLIN (23) and PubChem (24) prior to performing any functional analysis....
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