Metabolic analyzer

• Subject Area: Medicine
• Term: Funded in 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 498239132

A metabolic analyzer measures important pathways of energy production in living cells. The technology uses specific sensors to detect extracellular changes in oxygen consumption and efflux of protons, which enables the non-invasive, label-free measurement of the bioenergetic state of the cell in real time. The metabolic analyzer allows the addition of substrates, agonists and antagonists to cells during the measurements to address specific research questions in the context of nutrition and bioenergetics. In addition to the oxygen consumption it is further feasible to determine key cellular functions such as cellular respiration, glycolysis, oxidation of fatty acids, ATP production and respiratory capacity to gain inside into the mitochondrial function and/or dysfunction of the cell. Measurements can be conducted in primary cells and permanent cell lines in culture, lymphocytes and isolated mitochondria. Furthermore, the non-invasive analysis allows time series measurements with a high sample throughput.The research focus of the applicant lies in unravelling molecular mechanisms by which food and food constituents mediate their bioactivity and affect ageing-related processes as well as health and live span in model systems of increasing biological complexity. The measurement of oxygen consumption, ATP production, respiratory capacity and substrate oxidation via the metabolic analyzer provides important information at the interface of nutritional physiology and bioenergetics. The metabolic analyzer is technologically complementary to the given research infrastructure of the applicant. It exhibits a high sensitivity and accuracy and is a versatile apparatus applicable in in vitro (cell culture) and in vivo (Drosophila melanogaster, laboratory rodents, human) studies, also under consideration of potential metabolic diseases such as diabetes mellitus type II and adipositas.

• DFG Programme: Major Research Instrumentation
• Major Instrumentation: Metabolisches Analysengerät
• Instrumentation Group: 3560 Warburg-Apparaturen, Zellstoffwechsel-Analysengeräte
• Applicant Institution: Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel
• Leader: Professor Dr. Gerald Rimbach