Capillary electrophoresis mass spectrometry based metabolomics

Abstract

Capillary electrophoresis–mass spectrometry (CE-MS) is a powerful orthogonal technique capable of filling in gaps in the identification, quantitation and isomeric resolution of many small hydrophilic and charged metabolites. The metabolome is a large complex mixture of molecules for which not one technique nor a combination of techniques can optimally identify and measure it in it’s entirety. LC-MS, GC-MS and NMR have been the widely used for metabolomics for the past 20 years for a wide range of applications, each technique having shown uniqueness and advantages, for specific applications or target metabolic chemical space. CE-MS captures a unique metabolic chemical space beyond these standard methods providing another window into metabolomics profiling. This review will focus on the recent publications published within 2016 focusing on biotechnology and pharmaceutical applications of CE-MS.