The growing field called Metabolomics detects and quantifies the low molecular weight molecules, known as metabolites (constituents of the metabolome), produced by active, living cells under different conditions and times in their life cycles. NMR is playing an important role in metabolomics because of its ability to observe mixtures of small molecules in living cells or in cell extracts.
The words 'Metabolomics' and 'Metabonomics' are often used interchangably, though a consensus is beginning to develop as to the specific meaning of each. The goals of Metabolomics are to catalog and quantify the myriad small molecules found in biological fluids under different conditions. Metabonomics is the study of how the metabolic profile of a complex biological system changes in response to stresses like disease, toxic exposure, or dietary change.
Other small molecule databases
- PubChem
- KEGG Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes
- Spectral Database for Organic Compounds, SDBS From the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Japan
- Dundee PRODRG Server
- CSD The Cambridge Structural Database
- Ligand Expo (formerly, Ligand Depot) Rutgers University - using the PDB ligand database
- CAS The American Chemical Society
- Human Metabolite Database a project of the Wishart Research Group
- Human Metabolite Library a project of the Wishart Research Group
- MMCD Madison Metabolomics Consortium Database
- NIST Physical Reference Data National Institute of Standards and Technology - atomic masses, spectroscopy info, etc.
- NIST Species Data by Chemical Formula
- NMR Database of Lignin and Cell Wall Model Compounds. Sally A. Ralph, John Ralph and Larry L. Landucci. November 2004. Agricultural Research Service