Product Glossary

This glossary defines common terms that you might see as you’re working in the MyMetabolon Portal or throughout our Help Center.

A

ANOVA Main Effect: The effect of an independent variable on a dependent variable, averaged across the levels of any other independent variables.

Association: A connection or cooperative link between two things. Discovery Panel associations are supported by deep annotations and literary references.

C

CDT: Tabular data file(s) containing project results, including Chemical ID and annotation.

COMP ID: An internally-generated Metabolon compound identifier

D

Data Deliverable: The file(s) or data that are available for the user to export or download. Example: CDT

Discovery Panel: A curated collection of compounds and pathways derived from the Metabolon Global Discovery Panel. These collections are focused on specific areas of biological function, disease state, and commercial application.

Discovery Panel Metabolite Association Project (MAP): A database containing contextually relevant associative information for compounds within the Global Discovery Panel. This file contains data collected and validated by the Metabolon Discovery and Translational Science (DTS) group.

Discovery Panel Pathway Annotations: Functional pathway information created and maintained by the Metabolon Discovery and Translational Science group that details relevant biological information in the context of the Global Discovery Panel on a pathway level. Each pathway annotation contains a pathway map diagram, functional notes, impact notes, and links to relevant literature references.

DTS: Discovery and Translational Science. The department within Metabolon  is responsible for biological interpretation.

G

Global Discovery Panel: Metabolon’s liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC-MS) global metabolomics technology that provides a high-fidelity, reproducible analysis of the current state of a biological system. This technology uses four analytical methods (Pos Late, Pos Early, Polar, and Neg) to identify up to 5,400+ metabolites across 70 major biochemical pathways.

H

HMDB: An alphanumeric compound identifier and link to compound information maintained by the Human Metabolome Database (HMDB)

K

KEGG Identifier: An alphanumeric compound identifier and link to the compound information in the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG)

L

LC-MS: Liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC–MS) is an analytical chemistry technique that combines the physical separation capabilities of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with the mass analysis capabilities of mass spectrometry (MS). Liquid chromatography (LC) separates the sample components and introduces them to the mass spectrometer (MS). The MS creates and detects charged ions. The LC/MS data may be used to provide information about the molecular weight, structure, identity, and quantity of specific sample components.

LIMS: Laboratory Information Management System

M

Matrix: In chemical analysis, a matrix refers to the sample type (e.g., serum, feces, etc.).

Metabolite: In biochemistry, a metabolite is a chemical compound that is an intermediate or end product of metabolism. The term metabolite is usually used for small molecules. (e.g., ethanol, glutamic acid, etc.)

MyMetabolon (Portal): Metabolon Customer Portal: https://portal.metabolon.com/en/login

P

p-value: p-values for each comparison are derived from the natural log-transformed data using the corresponding statistical analysis (e.g., t-Test, ANOVA, etc.). The p-value is the probability that the test statistic is at least as extreme as observed in the current experiment, given that the null hypothesis is true. Hence, the more extreme the statistic, the lower the p-value and the more evidence the data provides against the null hypothesis.

Pathway: A metabolic pathway is a linked series of chemical reactions occurring within a cell. The reactants, products, and intermediates of an enzymatic reaction are known as metabolites, which are modified by a sequence of chemical reactions catalyzed by enzymes.

Percent Fill: The total percentage of samples in an experimental group in which a metabolite was detected.

PUBCHEM: PubChem Compound Identification; a unique numerical identifier assigned by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) and searchable in the PubChem database.

R

Raw peak data: Peak height is defined as the maximum intensity of all datapoints forming the peak, and peak area is measured as the sum over intensities of all datapoints.

S

Study Design: Study design is a process wherein the trial methodology and statistical analysis are organized to ensure that the null hypothesis is either accepted or rejected and the conclusions reflect the truth.

Sub Pathway: A biochemical pathway related to a specific biological function.

Super Pathway: A combination of biochemical pathways that describe the biosynthesis or metabolism of a group of related compounds.

T

Targeted Panel: Focused panel for specific pathway(s) and metabolite(s) that deliver absolute quantification for research and biomarker applications. Each panel is independently configured and validated for specific analytical methods and matrices.

Two-Way ANOVA: In two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) three statistical tests are typically performed: the main effect of each factor independently and the effect of the interaction.

V

Visualization: The graphical representation of information and data.

Research Use Only Designation

Research Use Only or “RUO” refers to products and services offered by Metabolon that are used for research only and not for diagnostic purposes. All RUO products and services are compliant with ISO 9001:2015.