1.22.2008
METABOLOMIC APPROACHES FOR CARDIOVASCULAR
BIOMARKER DISCOVERY

SPEAKER: Robert Gerszten, MD: MGH, HMS
MODERATOR: A. Gregory Sorensen, MD: MGH, HMS

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SUMMARY:

While decades of research in biochemistry, nutrition, and physiology have revealed specific metabolic pathways, systematic surveys of pathways altered in human disease states such as atherosclerotic vascular disease are now possible. An emerging set of technologies, based on mass spectrometry, enables "metabolomics,” the monitoring of hundreds of metabolites from biological samples. These technologies promise to transform our ability to profile samples with the goal of illuminating biology and discovering valuable clinical biomarkers. In this presentation, we will discuss the development of a targeted mass spectrometry-based metabolomics platform, and its application to perturbation studies in humans.

FORUM REPORT:

The CIMIT Forum on Jan. 22 at Simches Research Center at Massachusetts General Hospital, addressed the topic, “Biomarkers: Cutting Edge Indicators to Assess Health, Monitor Disease or Determine Responsiveness to Therapy.”

Homer Pien, PhD, managing director, Center for Biomarkers in Imaging, at Massachusetts General Hospital, focused on the subject, “Imaging Biomarkers: Uses, Misuses, Successes and Failures.”

There is growing evidence that human medical imaging can help answer questions as they arise during the drug development process. Imaging modalities such as magnetic resonance imaging, computer tomography and positron emission tomography can offer insights into the bioactivity, pharmacokinetics and dosing of drugs.

Dr. Pien said that biomarkers could be an asset in the drug development process, which is both costly and risky.  He said that with recent advances in genomic, proteomic, imaging and computational sciences, the time is right for pharmaco-imaging to become an important tool in drug development.

He and his team of researchers encourage the broader academic, clinical, industrial and government communities to join forces and explore the potential for using imaging to improve translational research and to significantly reduce the time and costs of developing new pharmaceuticals.

Dr. Robert Gerszten, MD, is principal investigator, Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Immunology and Inflammatory Diseases, and MGH Cardiovascular Research Center; he is Senior Associate Member, Broad Institute; and he is  associate professor at Harvard Medical School. He spoke on “Metabolomic Approaches for Cardiovascular Biomarker Discovery.”

While decades of research in biochemistry, nutrition and physiology have revealed specific metabolic pathways, systemic surveys of pathways altered in human disease states such as atherosclerotic vascular disease are now possible. An emerging set of technologies, based on mass spectrometry, enables “metabolomics,” the monitoring of hundreds of metabolites from three biological samples.

These technologies promise to transform medicine’s ability to profile samples with the goal of illuminating biology and discovering valuable clinical biomarkets. Dr. Gerszten discussed the development of a targeted mass spectrometry-based metabolomics platform, and its application to perturbation studies in humans.

A. Gregory Sorensen, MD, director, Center for Biomarkers in Imaging, and associate director, Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, MGH; and associate professor of radiology at Harvard Medical School, moderated the session.