The secrets of life lie in the molecular flexibility.

Welcome to Prof. Mariusz Jaremko's research group, the

Flexible Systems Lab!

Our research group works mainly on metabolites which are important for human health, and our current main focus in this discipline is oriented towards food, food safety, food quality, and food fraud by utilizing state-of-the-art instrumentation in metabolomics studies. We are also working on aggregation of amylin, a biological peptide that is connected tightly with diabetes II, a disease that is closely related to unhealthy diets. So, food science and the consequences of the food we eat are one of the main areas which the group Flexible Systems investigates. We are also working to develop methods and pulse programs in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) that allow us to uncover obscured metabolites and to detect them at lower concentrations, in order to understand metabolic pathways better. 


Why the name Flexible Systems?

It's simple; because metabolites, as well as amylin and its analogues, are very flexible systems i.e. amylin does not have a defined 3D structure, and in the case of the small molecules and metabolites we study, while they do have defined structures, they often exhibit very high levels of dynamic flexibility due to their size.

Untangling untidy folds to understand diseases

Copper ions could play a key role when peptide folding goes wrong and leads to harmful aggregates.

Apply

Picking the best methods for metabolomics research

Comparison of different nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy methods has helped to identify the most robust approach for studying different types of biomolecules.

Latest Publications

Metabolomic Study on Tridacna maxima Giant Clams Reveals Metabolic Fingerprint of Environmental Pollutants

by Fatimah Almulhim, Susann Rossbach, Abdul-Hamid Emwas, Najeh M. Kharbatia, Lukasz Jaremko, Mariusz Jaremko, Carlos Duarte
Original Article Year: 2022 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.813404

Abstract

Metabolite profiling of marine invertebrates, such as bivalve mollusks, may not only provide insights into the health state of an individual holobiont, but also the pollution levels of their environment Here, we combined 1H nuclear magnetic responance (NMR) spectroscopy and mass spectrometry (MS)-based metabolomics techniques to investigate the organ-specific metabolomic profiles of Tridacna maxima giant clams. Clams were collected from across-shelf gradient in the Red Sea, from inshore to off-shore. We unequivocally profiled 306 metabolites and observed that the sampling location had minimal effects on metabolite composition. However, we observed significant differences in metabolite profiles among different organs (i.e., gills, mantle organ, and digestive system). Importantly, in addition to endogenous metabolites, we detected the presence of terephthalic acid and isophthalic acid, which likely originate from marine plastic ingestion. Collectively, our study opens opportunities for a deeper understanding of Tridacna maxima physiology through metabolomics, and illustrates the power of invertebrate metabolite profiling for monitoring plastic-related aquatic pollutants.