Fios Genomics offers an established, cost-efficient and rapid turnaround analysis services for metabolomic data from a range of platforms including tandem GC-MS, LC-MS and NMR. We are able to receive data in various formats for the analysis such as metabolite abundance tables or spectral data.
Metabolomic analyses are relevant for a range of applications such as:
- Profiling of metabolites in biofluids between normal and diseased subjects
- Identification of metabolites and derivatives associated with drug exposure and toxicity
- Understanding changes in metabolites and metabolic pathways over time
Metabolomics is the study of processes involving metabolites and small molecules within biological systems, typically using high throughput profiling approaches. Metabolic profiling gives a snapshot of ongoing chemical processes within the cell which directly reflects the underlying biochemical activity and state of cells. This can include the evaluation of metabolic processing for both endogenous metabolites (produced by the host organism) as well as exogenous sources, for instance from diet or drug exposure. As such, metabolomics has the potential to link genetic, environmental, and other physiological elements to specific disease states.
Many studies involving metabolomic data are from minimally invasive sources, e.g. plasma, serum, urine and saliva, but can also be extracted from many other tissues. The chemical properties of metabolites can be widely different, from hydrophobic macromolecules such as lipids (lipidomics) to smaller water-soluble metabolites such as sugars. Due to these differences, it is not generally possible to capture all metabolites by a single analytical method and several approaches are commonly used in combination, for instance GC-MS and LC-MS.
Our routine metabolomic and lipidomic analysis pipelines include:
- Assessment of sample metadata to identify associations between biological and technical study variables
- Quality control evaluation of metabolite abundance data
- Normalisation across samples using appropriate data normalisation techniques
- Identification and correction of batch-related effects
- Assessment, and where appropriate, imputation of missing values
- Exploratory analysis and evaluation of all types of data using unsupervised clustering and dimension reduction techniques to assess overall sample quality and identify possible outliers
- Differential abundance analysis with a range of statistical tools (e.g. limma)
- Functional enrichment analysis using metabolic pathway resources such as MetaCyc™
Where required we can include a range of further bolt-on analyses, for example gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) to assess functional enrichment, or an integrated congruence analysis with other ‘omics’ data sets such as transcriptomic or proteomic data to obtain a more holistic view of a biological system.
We found that the package they offered is a very attractive one, compared to other organisations we talked to. Fios provide you with a very nice data package, that is fully interpretable and allows you to draw meaningful conclusions.
Every time our clients work with us, they benefit from:
- A dedicated analyst backed by an experienced team to curate all data, identify the most appropriate statistical approach to take and provide a biological interpretation of results.
- An interactive data analysis report, internally peer-reviewed, including all analysis methods and results.
- Post-report follow ups: upon receipt of our data analysis report, we arrange a teleconference so that our lead analyst can talk through the results.
Access to large capacity computing and secure data storage facilities.
What we have helped with
Our solutions helped our clients with the following projects:
- Time series analysis of metabolic stress response in plants
- Integration of metabolomic data with transcriptomic data
- Evaluation of metabolic changes associated with CRISPR gene dependency scores in cancer cell lines
- Differences in metabolic profiles and pathways between wild type and knock-out mice
WHAT YOU WILL GET
Transparency
All methods and analysis tools utilised are detailed in the final report. This means no blackbox of analysis.
Fast Turnaround
We help you to achieve your research goals in a quick and timely manner.
Rigorous QC
We always perform Quality Control as part of an analysis project.
Getting Your Data Ready for Analysis
We can analyse:
- Recent data, generated within your own laboratory or that of a 3rd party provider
- In-house historic data
- Data sourced from the public domain and database (data mining).
While we prefer to receive data in the raw format (e.g. CEL files) we can also receive pre-normalised files.
If you have yet to generate the data, we can help by arranging for the generation of your data. We have a list of providers located worldwide to which can take care of data generation. This service is usually only available as part of an analysis contract.
Alternatively, we are able to source and mine data from available databases. We are happy to work with you at every stage of your study to ensure the best outcome for your research.
Our Reports
Our analysis reports at Fios are provided as an HTML link hosted on our secure server. The secure link leads the user to a password-protected HTML document which is clickable, searchable and dynamic. This format allows you to easily interrogate and explore your data. Additionally, all methods, tools and thresholds are fully documented within the report.
We offer a wide range of services:
Discovery
Selecting the correct targets and/or the correct indication is essential for development success. We help support the process with robust analysis of historic or new data.
Preclinical Research
We help in experimental design and statistical analysis and guide our clients in making informed decisions during the preclinical stage.
Clinical
Research
We offer a comprehensive analysis approach for augmenting clinical trial outcomes, ensuring you get the most information out of your research.
Drug Repurposing
We have strong experience with identifying in silico new potential indications for existing drugs, reducing the cost and time of downstream wet lab validation.
