Stable-isotope Labeled Metabolic Analysis in Drosophila melanogaster: from Experimental Setup to Data Analysis

Stable-isotope labeled metabolic analysis is an essential methodology to characterize metabolic regulation during biological processes. However, the method using stable-isotope-labeled tracer (e.g., 13C-glucose) in live animal is only beginning to be developed. Here, we contribute a qualitative metabolic labeling experiment protocol in Drosophila melanogaster using stable-isotope-labeled 13C-glucose tracer followed by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) analysis. Detailed experimental setup, data acquisition and analysis are provided to facilitate the application of in vivo metabolic labeling analysis that might be applied in a wide range of biological studies.