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Review
. 2022 Mar 21:13:805782.
doi: 10.3389/fphar.2022.805782. eCollection 2022.

Fluxomics - New Metabolomics Approaches to Monitor Metabolic Pathways

Abdul-Hamid Emwas  1 , Kacper Szczepski  2 , Inas Al-Younis  3 , Joanna Izabela Lachowicz  4 , Mariusz Jaremko  2
Affiliations
Review

Fluxomics - New Metabolomics Approaches to Monitor Metabolic Pathways

Abdul-Hamid Emwas et al. Front Pharmacol. .

Abstract

Fluxomics is an innovative -omics research field that measures the rates of all intracellular fluxes in the central metabolism of biological systems. Fluxomics gathers data from multiple different -omics fields, portraying the whole picture of molecular interactions. Recently, fluxomics has become one of the most relevant approaches to investigate metabolic phenotypes. Metabolic flux using 13C-labeled molecules is increasingly used to monitor metabolic pathways, to probe the corresponding gene-RNA and protein-metabolite interaction networks in actual time. Thus, fluxomics reveals the functioning of multi-molecular metabolic pathways and is increasingly applied in biotechnology and pharmacology. Here, we describe the main fluxomics approaches and experimental platforms. Moreover, we summarize recent fluxomic results in different biological systems.

Keywords: flux; fluxomics; mass spectrometry (MS); metabolomics; nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR); pharmacometabolomics.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Number of fluxomic publications. A literature review was conducted on SciFinder (https://scifinder.cas.org/scifinder/view/scifinder/scifinderExplore.jsf) using the keyword fluxomics.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
The relationships between each of the “-omics”. Each of the arrows shows the direction in which a particular “-omic” influences another. In the case of fluxomics, it combines all approaches, granting better understanding. Dauner describes observed flux/activity as a two component - capacity-based and kinetics-based - regulation (Figure 3). Created with Biorender.com.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Observed flux/activity a of a reaction step I. Adapted with permission from (Dauner, 2010).
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Example of a flux map, representing a metabolic flux distribution of Chlorella cells in autotrophic cultures. The flux values are expressed in mmol/g/h. Adapted with permission from (Shimizu and Shimizu, 2013).
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 5
The basics of MFA and FBA approaches. S is the stoichiometric matrix, v is the flux vector, r is the external metabolic rates. In MFA, fluxes are calculated by fitting extracellular rates measured experimentally. In FBA, a flux solution space is determined by assuming a biological objective, for example, maximization of growth rate, and solving a linear optimization problem. Adapted with permission from (Antoniewicz, 2015).
FIGURE 6
FIGURE 6
Summary of the most used techniques within fluxomic studies.
FIGURE 7
FIGURE 7
Summary of the most used organisms within fluxomic studies.
FIGURE 8
FIGURE 8
Summary of the commonly described pathways within fluxomic studies.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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