Center for Metabolomic Studies Seminar Series Featuring Gary Siuzdak, PhD
Presentation: “Identifying Bioactive Metabolites with Activity Metabolomics”
Speaker: Gary Siuzdak, PhD
Sr. Director, Scripps Center for Metabolomics
Professor of Chemistry, Molecular and Computational Biology
The Scripps Research Institute
Abstract:
The metabolome, the collection of small-molecule chemical entities involved in metabolism, has traditionally been studied with the aim of identifying biomarkers in the diagnosis and prediction of disease. However, the value of metabolome analysis (metabolomics) has been redefined from a simple biomarker identification tool to a technology for the discovery of active drivers of biological processes. It is now clear that the metabolome affects cellular physiology through modulation of other ‘omics’ levels, including the genome, epigenome, transcriptome and proteome. Our efforts focus on using metabolomics to understand how the metabolome influences other omics and, by extension, reveals the active role of metabolites in physiology and disease. This concept of utilizing metabolomics to perform activity screens to identify biologically active metabolites — which we term activity metabolomics — is already having a broad impact on biology.