A High-Throughput Platform Utilizing FPBG-PITC for Amino-Containing Metabolites Screening in Breast Diseases

Amino-containing metabolites play essential roles in biological processes such as protein synthesis and energy metabolism, and their dysregulation is associated with disease development. Liquid biopsy, valued for its minimal invasiveness, is widely utilized in cancer detection. However, traditional methods necessitate protein and lipid removal while suffering from low throughput and sensitivity. To address these limitations, a novel magnetic chemoselective probe, Fe₃O₄-Polymers-Cystamine-Boclys-Gly-NH₂-PITC (FPBG-PITC), is synthesized, incorporating hydrophobic tags to improve metabolite detection sensitivity and chromatographic separation. Using this probe, a high-throughput metabolic analysis platform is established, allowing efficient enrichment, purification, and quantification of serum amino-containing metabolites with reduced costs. Through comparative analysis of serum samples from healthy controls and patients with benign or malignant breast lesions, four metabolites-asparagine, tryptophan, leucine/isoleucine, and homocitrulline-are identified as potential biomarkers for early breast disease screening, providing a novel diagnostic strategy.