AIMRC to Offer New Metabolomics Resource for U of A Researchers

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The Arkansas Integrative Metabolic Research Center, an NIH-funded Center for Biomedical Research Excellence, is pleased to announce that U of A researchers throughout campus will soon have access to cutting-edge metabolomics equipment. With a new NIH grant supplement awarded, a Quadrupole Time-of-Flight Liquid Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry system will be installed within the AIMRC Bioenergetics Core facility located in the Institute for Nanoscience and Engineering Building.

The Bioenergetics Core provides researchers with instrumentation and expertise, enabling the study of real-time metabolism in cells, tissues and whole organisms, supporting the investigation of the mechanisms that govern the transfer of energy in cells, tissues and organisms under normal and disease conditions. With the acquisition of the Liquid Chromotography Q-TOF mass spectrometer, the AIMRC is adding metabolomics research capabilities on campus, providing a unique resource to our campus and region.

The comprehensive measurement of metabolites using the LC/Q-TOF system will enable researchers to identify changes in flux through a virtually unlimited number of specific metabolic pathways. This system complements other sophisticated Bioenergetics Core instrumentation (including three Agilent Seahorse analyzers, an Oroboros O2 respirometer, a BioTek Cytation 5 Imaging Multimode analyzer and a Promethion metabolic cage system). Collectively, this suite of equipment will allow the AIMRC to provide researchers with valuable metabolic insights under different disease conditions at the molecular, cellular, tissue and whole-body levels.

The LC/Q-TOF mass spectrometer will enable researchers to examine metabolites across a diverse set of biomedical applications and analyze key biomedical pathways as reflected in functional genomics and proteomics studies. It is expected to help AIMRC users to investigate molecular mechanisms underlying aberrations in metabolic pathways in a variety of disease conditions such as cachexia, diabetes, osteoporosis, obesity and cancer.

"The addition of the LC/Q-TOF mass spectrometer to the Bioenergetics core facility can be expected to provide the much-needed impetus for researchers on this campus to embark on high-quality drug design research. Further, the LC/Q-TOF mass spectrometer can be expected to help researchers engage in understanding the effects of pesticides on agricultural yields and food safety," said Dr. Suresh Thallapuranam, director of the AIMRC Bioenergetics Core.

Given the broad range of applications of the technology beyond metabolomics, Thallapuranam indicated that he hopes the new resource will enhance research across campus, aiding in the submission of more high-impact scientific journal articles and competitive federal grant applications.

Researchers interested in using this equipment can contact the Bioenergetics Core manager, Patience Okoto at psokoto@uark.edu), or the core director, Suresh Thallapuranam at sthalla@uark.edu.

About AIRMC: The Arkansas Integrative Metabolic Research Center (AIMRC) was established in April 2021 with Phase I COBRE funding from NIGMS (P20GM139768). The AIMRC is a research center located at the University of Arkansas focused on understanding the role of cell and tissue metabolism in disease, development, and repair through research involving advanced imaging, bioenergetics, and data science.