New Advances in Analytical Methods for High Resolution Mass Spectrometry-Based Metabolomics

Metabolomics is the study of comprehensive identification and quantification of endogenous small-molecular metabolites in the biological system. The biological samples are highly complex due to a large number of metabolites, tremendous physical/chemical diversity, and a wide concentration range. Global metabolome analysis is a great challenge for analytical techniques. Mass spectrometry is one of the key analytical methods in metabolomics investigations. With the rapid development of high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS), it has become an indispensable approach owing to high sensitivity, high resolution, good mass accuracy, and wide dynamic ranges. A variety of novel metabolomics methods based on HRMS have been proposed. In this review, new advances of analytical methods, metabolome identification based on HRMS in metabolomics in the last five years were presented, including micro/nano-ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography-HRMS, multi-dimensional liquid chromatography-HRMS, direct injection-HRMS, mass spectrometry imaging, and strategies for metabolite annotations. Future perspectives for HRMS-based metabolomics were highlighted.