Protein-Metabolite Interactions: Discovery and Significance

Metabolites orchestrate cellular processes as either substrates, co-enzymes, inhibitors, or activators of cellular proteins such as enzymes and receptors. Although traditional biochemical and structural biology-based approaches have been successfully employed for the discovery of protein-metabolite interactions, they often fail to detect transient and low-affinity biomolecular relationships. Another limitation of these approaches is that they are performed under in vitro conditions lacking the physiological context. Recently developed mass spectrometry-based methodologies overcome both these shortcomings, and have resulted in the discovery of global protein-metabolite cellular interaction networks. Herein, we describe traditional and modern approaches for the discovery of protein-metabolite interactions, and discuss the impact of these discoveries on our understanding of cellular physiology and on drug development.