Future of liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry in metabolic profiling and metabolomic studies for biomarker discovery

Abstract

The future utility of liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC–MS) in metabolic profiling and metabolomic studies for biomarker discovery is discussed, beginning with a brief description of the evolution of metabolomics and the utilization of the three most popular analytical platforms in such studies: nuclear magnetic resonance, gas chromatography-MS and LC–MS. Emphasis is placed on recent developments in high-efficiency LC separations, sensitive electrospray ionization approaches and the benefits of incorporating both in LC–MS-based approaches. The advantages and disadvantages of various quantitative approaches are reviewed, followed by the current LC–MS-based tools available for candidate biomarker characterization and identification. Finally, a brief prediction on the future path of LC–MS-based methods in metabolic profiling and metabolomic studies is given.