LC-MS System for Collecting Time-Resolved Metabolomics Data of Cultured Cells

Temporal metabolic dynamics are difficult to capture but are critical to understanding biology. We developed an automated liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry system that collects time-resolved metabolomics data from cultured cells, enabling sub-minute sequential sampling, broad metabolite coverage, robust metabolite identification, and parallel monitoring of up to 72 experimental conditions. Using this system, we identified temporal metabolic phenotypes of Escherichia coli and Proteus mirabilis that could not be captured from single time points.