Stable Isotope-Assisted Metabolomics for Deciphering Xenobiotic Metabolism in Mammalian Cell Culture

Abstract

We present a workflow based on stable isotope-assisted metabolomics and the bioinformatics tool MetExtract II for deciphering xenobiotic metabolites produced by human cells. Its potential was demonstrated by the investigation of the metabolism of deoxynivalenol (DON), an abundant food contaminatn, in a liver cracinoma cell line (HeoG2) and a model for colon carcinoma (HT29). Detected known metabolites included DON-3-sulfate, DON-10-sulfonate, and DON-10-glutathione as well as DON-cysteine. Conjugation with amino acids and antibiotics was confirmed for the first time. The approach allows the untargeted elucidation of human xenobiotic products in tissue culture.<br>