A multiplatform metabolomics approach for comprehensive analysis of GIST xenografts with various KIT mutations

Metabolites in biological matrices belong to diverse chemical groups, ranging from non-polar long-chain fatty acids to small polar molecules. The goal of untargeted metabolomic analysis is to measure the highest number of metabolites in the sample. Nevertheless, from an analytical point of view, no single technique can measure such a broad spectrum of analytes. Therefore, we selected a method based on GC-MS and LC-MS with two types of stationary phases for the untargeted profiling of gastrointestinal stromal tumours. The procedure was applied to GIST xenograft samples (n = 71) representing four different mutation models, half of which were treated with imatinib. We aimed to verify the method coverage and advantages of applying each technique. RP-LC-MS measured most metabolites due to a significant fraction of lipid components of the tumour tissue. What is unique and worth noting is that all applied techniques were able to distinguish between different mutation models. However, for detecting imatinib-induced alterations in the GIST metabolome, RP-LC-MS and GC-MS proved to be more relevant than HILIC-LC-MS, resulting in a higher number of significantly changed metabolites in four treated models. Undoubtedly, the inclusion of all mentioned techniques makes the method more comprehensive. Nonetheless, for green chemistry and time and labour saving, we assume that RP-LC-MS and GC-MS analyses are sufficient to cover the global GIST metabolome.