SCIEX joins forces with the Francis Crick Institute and the University of Cambridge to establish understanding of metabolism

SCIEX will work with the Francis Crick Institute and the University of Cambridge to build a metabolism-centric proteomic map. This comprehensive map will focus on enzymes involved in the control of metabolism and will be developed through the use of a fast and highly accurate, high content proteomics platform using SCIEX micro-flow chromatography and data-independent SWATH acquisition.

The SWATH platform allows systematic recording of semi-targeted proteomic profiles at a significantly higher throughput than with previous methods, and will be fundamental to the success of the research.

The project is supported by a grant from UK's Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and will yield a unique resource for the scientific community and industry as it explores metabolic regulation and its effect on ageing and age-associated diseases.

The study will be led by internationally recognised researchers within the field of metabolic regulation and proteomics: the Francis Crick’s Dr Markus Ralser and Professor Kathryn Lilley from the University of Cambridge.

Gaining and sharing knowledge around the ageing process has great potential for unlocking answers to the questions of precision medicine

Dr Ralser’s lab focuses on the dynamics of metabolic networks during stress situations, ageing, the role of glycolysis, pentose phosphate pathway in cancer, and the early evolution of metabolic pathways.

Professor Lilley leads a research group that is interested in what determines the spatial arrangement of the proteome and has developed a suite of protocols and software for organelle proteomics data.

Dr David Roblin, Chief Operating Officer and Director of Scientific Translation at the Francis Crick Institute, said: 'We are delighted that this collaboration with SCIEX, the University of Cambridge and the Crick will go forward. The grant from the BBSRC demonstrates that the multidisciplinary nature of the Crick is creating new scientific ideas that are leading to translation and commercial opportunities.'

The success of precision medicine will depend on so-called industrialised proteomics, allowing faster analysis of larger sample sets than the current, widely-used omics methods.

SCIEX is leading the development of industrialised proteomics workflows, including Microflow SWATH, which delivers significantly faster proteome analysis than traditional nanoflow-based SWATH acquisition, while retaining comprehensive proteome coverage.

'The body of work that will result from this collaboration is highly sought after in life science research today. Gaining and sharing knowledge around the ageing process has great potential for unlocking answers to the questions of precision medicine and SCIEX is proud to be part of this effort,' said Chris Radloff, Global Vice President & General Manager of the LC-MS Business at SCIEX.