Institut Biologi Sistem

 Institute of Systems Biology

Workshop Outline

Gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS) is an essential instrument for high-throughput metabolomics studies especially for VOCs profiling. GC-MS utilizes a quadrupole mass spectrometer capable of high-speed scanning, which enables reliable and fast metabolites identification that are biologically relevant. Generally, samples are normally derivatized prior to GC-MS analysis in order to reduce their polarity and facilitate chromatographic separation. The electron ionization (EI) mass spectra obtained are reproducible and suitable for library matching, mass spectral collections being readily available.

Liquid Chromatography – High Resolution Mass Spectroscopy (LC-HRMS) continued to grow in the last two decades as an analytical technique used in metabolomics. Additionally, by combining spectral resolution, mass accuracy, and mass fragmentation, MS metabolite identification capabilities have been enhanced and recognized as the most employed technique in metabolomics.

Metabolomics is the study of identification and quantification of small molecules present in biological systems. It is a powerful tool comprises of analytical technologies and multivariate analysis for holistically probing large data sets. The massive development in equipment and software for data collection and analyses had led to rapid progress, with NMR and MS being the most important metabolomic platforms with wide applications in chemical, biological, pharmaceutical and medical sciences. High reproducibility is one of the fundamental advantages of NMR spectroscopy. NMR spectrometers are capable of analyzing the identity, structure, concentration, and behavior of molecules without destroying the samples. In addition, NMR metabolomics continues to make significant contributions to the identification of biomarkers to aid in the diagnosis and treatment of various diseases.

This workshop consisting of lectures and useful practical sessions offer intellectual discourse opportunity for scientists and beginners from various backgrounds to gain knowledge and practical experience in metabolomics, data processing, multivariate data analysis and software.

Topics:
1) Provide basic information about NMR metabolomics and its applications
2) Sample preparation and experimental design
3) Processing of NMR data and metabolites identification
4) Hands-on multivariate data analysis

Who should attend

Those who are interested in metabolomics and its applications (research scientists, academicians, postdoctoral fellows, and students) are encouraged to attend the workshop.

List of Speakers and Trainers

  • As a pioneer in Metabolomics field in Malaysia, Prof. Dr. Syarul Nataqain Baharum research is focused on the new insight of analytical and biological perspectives of the metabolomics in the field of systems biology, in particularly on the understanding of secondary metabolite production in local herbal plants as well as fluxomics studies. She has expanding her research focus in understanding host-pathogen interaction in aquaculture disease and also green therapeutic mechanism in neurogenerative diseases. In metabolomics research, pipeline of analytical tools such as LCMS, GCMS, CEMS, FTIR and NMR combined with Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is essential for the dynamic high throughput analysis. This frontier analysis which includes mathematical modelling has provided glimpse of cellular biology and fingerprint of functional network in the model organism in her lab. Currently she has published about 100 research articles, 4 books and 6 chapters in books. As project leader, she also received more than RM 4 million research grants in total amount. Under her supervision, 9 PhD students and 17 MSc were graduated. At the moment, she is supervising a total of 21 PhD students and 18 MSc students. She also has filed two patents and granted one Trade Mark (TM) and one Trade Secret.  Her work has been awarded prestigious awards including BioInnovation Awards in 2011 and Selangor My Innovation Award, 2014. She also engaged in collaborative partnership with industries such as Medika Natura Sdn Bhd, AAR Sdn Bhd and FGV Sdn Bhd.

  • If you are interested to collaborate with her, or be part of her research group, please drop her an email to nataqain@ukm.edu.my.

  • ChM. Dr. Kamalrul Azlan Azizan is a research fellow at INBIOSIS, UKM. He completed his PhD in Systems Biology in 2014 at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) in 2014. His research interest includes plant and microbial metabolomics as well as the application of chemometrics and multivariate for biomarkers discovery. Currently, he is working on bioprospecting allelochemicals from Wedelia trilobata using chemometrics and predictive models. 

  • ChM. Dr. Kamalrul Azlan Azizan has a strong hands-on experience with GC-MS and LC-MS systems and actively involves in the development and optimization of GC/LC methods, giving guidance through application and troubleshooting assistance. He can be contacted via email; kamalrulazlan@ukm.edu.my 

  • ChM. Dr. Nurkhalida Kamal completed her PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences (Natural Products Chemistry & Metabolomics) from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK in 2015. She then worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences (SIPBS) focusing on metabolomics analysis of marine organisms including seaweed and marine microbes. She joined INBIOSIS in 2020 as a Research Fellow.

  • Her research focuses on the application of metabolomics in natural products and food chemistry. She wants to understand the chemistry of various resources, why it is produced and what we can use it for. She has vast experiences in natural products isolation and elucidation from various organisms (plants, microbes, marine organisms and mushrooms), NMR and LCMS and chemometric data analysis. Her on-going research is to unravel the mechanism of immunomodulation of polyphenols-rich tempeh fraction on Caco-2 and HT-29 cell lines. Her interest also includes on using metabolomics as a tool to identify and biotechnologically optimize the production of bioactive secondary metabolites in medicinal plants, mushrooms, and microorganisms.

  • Please feel free to visit her research group website (www.nurkhalidakamal.com) or contact ChM. Dr. Nurkhalida Kamal (nurkhalida.kamal@ukm.edu.my) for research and industrial projects collaboration. 

  • Dr. Ahmed Mediani obtained his PhD in Food Science from Universiti Putra Malaysia in 2016. He then served as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Atta-ur-Rahman Institute for Natural Product Discovery (AuRIns), UiTM. In 2020, he joined INBIOSIS as a research fellow. 

  • His research focuses on the application of metabolomics in natural products and food Science. He has vast experiences in in vivo and in vitro assays on natural products as well as NMR- and LCMS-based metabolomics analyses. As a researcher, He is actively involved in research projects as well as preparing research proposal, particularly in the area of metabolomics, natural product chemistry and food Science. His recent project entitled NMR-based metabolomics approach revealing metabolic signatures and mechanism associated with anti-diabetic effects of Annona muricata. 

  • Please feel free to visit his research group website or contact Dr. Ahmed Mediani (ahmed@ukm.edu.my) for research and industrial projects collaboration.

  • Dr Adlin Afzan has been a chemist researcher at the Herbal Medicine Research Centre, Institute for Medical Research, since 2004. She holds a PhD in Pharmaceutical Science from the University of Geneva, Switzerland. Her specialization in MS metabolomics and molecular networking-based metabolite annotations strategy has led her to manage several research projects on developing quality control methods for Malaysian medicinal plants and discovering bioactive natural products as anti-microbial, anti-proliferative and anti-depression. She is also a member of technical committees related to herbal medicine and pharmacy and serves as the associate editor and guest editors for International journals. Adlin is an advocate for continuous learning and enjoys sharing her voice delivering various training sessions and workshops that promote metabolomics and molecular networking with the natural product community.

Programme

2nd October 2023 (Monday) - (Introduction)
Venue : Bilik Seminar IVI, Akademi Siber Teknopolis

Time Activity Trainer
8.30 am Registration -
9.00 am Opening ceremony and introduction -
9.10 am Lecture 1: Introduction to Metabolomics, Experimental design and quality control in Metabolomics Prof. Dr. Syarul Nataqain Baharum
10.30 am Tea break -
11.00 am Lecture 2: Introduction to GC-MS: Data Acquisition and Data Processing ChM. Dr. K. Azlan
12.30 pm Lunch break -
2.00 pm Lecture 3: Introduction to LC-MS: Data Acquisition and Data Processing ChM. Dr. Khalida Kamal
4.o0 pm Afternoon break -
4.15 pm Lecture 4: Introduction to NMR: Data Acquisition and Data Processing Dr. Ahmed Mediani
5.00 pm END OF DAY 1

3rd October 2023 (Tuesday) - (GC-MS)
Venue : Bilik Seminar IVI, Akademi Siber Teknopolis

Time Activity Trainer
9.00 am Introduction to Day 2 -
9.10 am Hand-on 1 GC-MS: Data pre-processing, alignment, filtering and identification ChM. Dr. K. Azlan
En. Syahmi Afiq Mustaza
10.30 am Tea break -
11.00 am Hand-on 2 GC-MS: Univariate and Multivariate ChM. Dr. K. Azlan
En. Syahmi Afiq Mustaza
12.30 pm Lunch break -
2.00 pm Hand-on 3 GC-MS: Pathway Enrichment analysis ChM. Dr. K. Azlan
En. Syahmi Afiq Mustaza
4.o0 pm Afternoon break -
4.15 pm Summary, discussions and wrap-up ChM. Dr. K. Azlan
En. Syahmi Afiq Mustaza
5.00 pm END OF DAY 2

4rd October 2023 (Wednesday) - (LCMS)
Venue : Bilik Seminar IVI, Akademi Siber Teknopolis

Time Activity Trainer
9.00 am Introduction to Day 3 -
9.10 am Hand-on 1 LC-MS: Data Acquisition and Data Processing ChM. Dr. Khalida Kamal
Pn. Rafidah Ahmad
Pn. Sarah Ibrahim
10.30 am Tea break -
10.45 am Hand-on 2 LC-MS: Data Acquisition and Data Processing ChM. Dr. Khalida Kamal
Pn. Rafidah Ahmad
Pn. Sarah Ibrahim
1.00 pm Lunch break -
2.00 pm Hand-on 3 Molecular networking Dr. Adlin Afzan
Pn. Rafidah Ahmad
Pn. Sarah Ibrahim
4.o0 pm Afternoon break -
4.15 pm Hand-on 4 Molecular networking Dr. Adlin Afzan
Pn. Rafidah Ahmad
Pn. Sarah Ibrahim
5.00 pm END OF DAY 3

5th October 2023 (Thursday) - (NMR)
Venue : Bilik Seminar IVI, Akademi Siber Teknopolis

Time Activity Trainer
9.00 am Introduction to Day 4 -
9.10 am Hand-on 1 NMR: Data Acquisition and Data Processing Dr. Ahmed Mediani
ChM. En. Hazim Syahmi Elias
10.30 am Tea break -
10.45 am Hand-on 2 NMR: Data Acquisition and Data Processing Dr. Ahmed Mediani
ChM. En. Hazim Syahmi Elias
1.00 pm Lunch break -
2.00 pm Hand-on 3 Pathway analysis for metabolomics Dr. Ahmed Mediani
ChM. En. Hazim Syahmi Elias
4.o0 pm Afternoon break -
4.15 pm Summary, discussions and wrap-up Dr. Ahmed Mediani
ChM. En. Hazim Syahmi Elias
5.00 pm END OF DAY 4

6th October 2023 (Friday) - (Consultation & Discussion)
Venue : Dewan Seminar, Institut Biologi Sistem (INBIOSIS)

Time Activity Trainer
9.00 am Breakfast -
9.10 am - 12.30 pm Consultation on sample and data analysis All

Register now or contact us for more details