Optimization of 13C isotopic tracers for metabolic flux analysis in mammalian cells.

ABSTRACT: Mammalian cells consume and metabolize various substrates from their surroundings for energy generation and biomass synthesis. Glucose and glutamine, in particular, are the primary carbon sources for proliferating cancer cells. While this combination of substrates generates static labeling patterns for use in (13)C metabolic flux analysis (MFA), the inability of single tracers to effectively label all pathways poses an obstacle for comprehensive flux determination within a given experiment. To address this issue we applied a genetic algorithm to optimize mixtures of (13)C-labeled glucose and glutamine for use in MFA. We identified tracer combinations that minimized confidence intervals in an experimentally determined flux network describing central carbon metabolism in tumor cells. Additio

SUBMITTER: Walther JL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3586220 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature