Mapping metabolite disturbances by drugs
By 
Anthony King2025-02-05T09:41:00
High-throughput metabolomic profiling gives insight into unpredictable drug effects
Even well-known drugs can cause entirely unpredictable effects on metabolism, Swiss researchers have shown. Rapidly mapping the diverse effects of molecules on thousands of different metabolites could give new insights into the way drugs work, preventing side effects, as well as uncovering new uses for existing drugs.
The team monitored cell growth and quantified changes in 2269 putative metabolites produced by lung cancer cells exposed to one of 1520 small molecules. Time-lapse microscopy kept track of cell numbers, and time-of-flight mass spectrometry with flow injection analysis recorded metabolites.