Cambridge Isotope Laboratories, Inc. Launches Stable Isotope-Labeled and Unlabeled TCA Cycle Multi-component Mixes

Wednesday, October 6, 2021

Cambridge Isotope Laboratories, Inc. (CIL) is pleased to announce the release of its new stable isotope-labeled and unlabeled TCA cycle mixes to aid in the analysis of TCA-associated compounds in metabolic studies. The TCA (tricarboxylic acid) cycle, also known as the Krebs or citric acid cycle, plays an essential role in central carbon and energy metabolism. The study of its intermediates, and its ancillary compounds, has proven pivotal in not only understanding their impact on metabolism but also in profiling their function in oncogenesis, inflammation, and other pathologies.

Krista Backiel, CIL’s Director of Business Development and Strategic Marketing, Life Sciences, states, “These new mixes enable researchers to easily identify and quantify multiple TCA cycle analytes in mass spectrometry (MS)-based methods. They were carefully designed to reduce researcher development time, enhance data quality, and streamline MS applications. ”The target audience for these mixes includes researchers performing qualitative and quantitative metabolomic analyses, those studying central carbon metabolic profiling, and those performing metabolic flux analysis. 

Ashley Sidebottom, PhD, Metabolomics Platform Director, University of Chicago (USA) Host-Microbe Metabolomics Facility, Duchossois Family Institute stated, “The metabolomic compound mixes by Cambridge Isotope Laboratories have expedited several processes in our GC-MS analysis pipeline. We have used these products, including their novel TCA mixes, to verify metabolite retention times, test derivatization reaction conditions, and to confirm fragmentation patterns detected in biological samples. CIL’s metabolite mixes are ready to go, easy to use, and consistently of high quality!”

The TCA mixes are dried down and comprise a total of 13 metabolites, with six being direct TCA cycle intermediates (e.g., α-ketoglutarate, succinate) and seven being important offshoot metabolites (e.g., itaconate and 2-hydroxyglutarate). The isotope-labeled and unlabeled TCA mixes can be purchased individually or as a set, depending on the need of the researcher. They are currently all in stock and available for global distribution.