An accelerated workflow for untargeted metabolomics using the METLIN database.

Metabolites, typically recognized as small molecules that are involved in cellular reactions, provide a functional signature of phenotype that is complimentary to the upstream biochemical information obtained from genes, transcripts, and proteins. The high-level of correlation between metabolites and phenotype has created a surge of interest in the field that is reflected in the number of metabolomic publications growing from just a few articles in 1999 to over five thousand in 2011. Although relatively new compared to its genomic and proteomic predecessors, already metabolomics has led to the discovery of biomarkers for disease, fundamental insights into cellular biochemistry, and clues related to disease pathogenesis.1,2