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Metabolite

A Metabolite is a small molecule tracked across the integMET database. Each metabolite records where it was observed and where it showed significant changes.

What is a Metabolite in integMET?

integMET tracks metabolites across all Studies and DiffProfs. For each metabolite, you can find:

  • Which Studies detected this metabolite
  • Which DiffProfs show significant changes in this metabolite
  • Chemical identifiers for external database lookup

This allows you to trace a metabolite back to its biological contexts — discovering which conditions, treatments, or diseases affect its levels.

Metabolite Fields

Chemical Identifiers

Field Description
InChIKey Unique structural identifier (e.g., SNICXCGAKADSCV-UHFFFAOYSA-N)
ChEBI ID ChEBI database identifier
IUPAC Name Systematic chemical name
Synonym Common name (e.g., "Rutin", "Reserpin")
Reactome IDs Links to Reactome pathways

Observation Tracking

Field Description
Studies Observed List of Studies where this metabolite was detected
DiffProfs Observed List of DiffProfs where this metabolite appears
Studies with Variation Studies where this metabolite showed significant change
DiffProfs with Variation DiffProfs where this metabolite showed significant change

Example

Metabolite: Reserpin
InChIKey: QEVHRUUCFGRFIF-MDEJGZGSSA-N
ChEBI ID: 28487

Observed in 9 studies:
  MTBLS10, MTBLS3750, MTBLS3963, MTBLS4463, ...

Significant variation in 3 DiffProfs:
  MTBLS3750_0002_00000006
  MTBLS4463_0001_00000001
  MTBLS5195_0001_00000001

Tracing Metabolites to Biological Contexts

A key feature of integMET is the ability to ask: "Where does this metabolite change?"

Starting from a metabolite, you can:

  1. Find all DiffProfs where it shows significant variation
  2. Examine the biological contrasts in those DiffProfs
  3. Discover patterns across different conditions
Metabolite: Rutin
└── Significant in DiffProfs:
    ├── MTBLS1191: Disease vs Control (liver condition)
    ├── MTBLS2384: Treated vs Untreated (drug response)
    └── MTBLS3518: Stressed vs Normal (environmental stress)

This reveals that Rutin levels change across diverse biological contexts — potentially indicating shared metabolic responses.

Relationship to Studies and DiffProfs

Metabolite (Rutin)
├── Observed in Study: MTBLS1191
│   └── Significant in DiffProf: MTBLS1191_0001_00000001
├── Observed in Study: MTBLS2384
│   └── Significant in DiffProf: MTBLS2384_0002_00000003
└── ...
  • One Metabolite can appear in many Studies
  • One Metabolite can show significant changes in many DiffProfs
  • This cross-referencing enables discovery of shared metabolic patterns