Grant: Research Tools and Instruments

Metabolites are produced from nearly every process, in every tissue in our body. Current techniques to measure these metabolites are crude in that they allow researchers to know only the amount in a specific tissue. The problem with this is that tissues themselves are complex in that they contain many different cell types each with a different purpose. We are requesting a sophisticated piece of equipment called a DESI source to be added to a mass spectrometer that already exists in our lab. The combination of the DESI source and the mass spectrometer will allow multiple researchers to visualize the specific location of various metabolites, lipids and neurotransmitters in tissues which will allow us to learn more about what these metabolites are doing in various tissues in our body. This represents a major advance from current technologies as we will be able to investigate practically any of the thousands of metabolites produced during the normal functioning of all of our major organs. This infrastructure will be useful to many research programs. The principal applicant studies different metabolites in the body and how they regulate the way that the body handles (metabolizes and eliminates) drugs. The way the body handles drugs is important because it varies substantially amongst the population. This results in some people that have the intended beneficial effect of the drug while others experience unwanted toxic side effects. The infrastructure will facilitate studies that allow us determine how a particular area of any organ in the body is impacted by changes in metabolite levels compared to another area of the same organ. This will help elucidate the reasons why the population varies substantially in their response to medications. Many other research programs will benefit from the requested infrastructure as well. The new metabolite visualization tool we are requesting will help us learn what happens to the brain when it degenerates over time. It will also help us learn the impact of maternal exposure to toxic compounds on fetal development, the specific metabolic beneficial effects of exercise, metabolic changes in the spine, and how multiple levels of metabolites change as cells grow.