Targeted panels for
specific biological questions.

While tryptophan has the lowest occurrence of all common amino acids in protein, its transformation into bioactive metabolites is extensive and critical to biological health. Tryptophan is the precursor to multiple functionally distinct pathways: the Serotonin/Melatonin axis, Kynurenine metabolism, NAD⁺ de novo synthesis, Indole metabolism, and Tryptamine pathways.

Each of these downstream pathways is connected to immunity, neurological function, and systemic inflammation. Tryptophan metabolites are active in T cells, tumour cells, fibroblasts, macrophages, dendritic cells, and hepatocytes — making this platform particularly relevant to immuno-oncology, neurodegeneration, psychiatric disease, and microbiome-host interaction research.

HMT's Tryptophan platform is a targeted CE-MS panel designed to simultaneously measure tryptophan and its key metabolic products across all major downstream branches, providing a comprehensive biochemical view of this pathway in a single analysis.

Optical isomers of amino acids can have profoundly different biological properties. One isomer may be enzymatically active while the other is not; or each isomer may participate in entirely different pathways and produce different outcomes. Standard metabolomics platforms using UPLC or conventional CE cannot resolve D and L forms — they co-elute and are counted as a single compound.

HMT's D/L Amino Acid panel uses chiral derivatisation — reacting amino acids with a ligand containing an optical centre — that allows our CE-MS method to separate and individually quantify 25 D/L amino acid pairs. This separation is not achievable by any standard LC-MS metabolomics method.

D-amino acids have been observed in brain tissue from Alzheimer's patients and in plasma from patients with kidney disease. They have also been linked to cancer, schizophrenia, gut microbiome activity, and distinct taste profiles. This is a largely unexplored area where HMT's capability opens genuinely novel research territory.

Peptidomics is the identification and profiling of small intact proteins and bioactive peptide fragments in the mass 1,000–10,000 range. This is a distinct analytical space: below conventional proteomics (which uses proteolytic digestion of proteins >10,000 Da) and above standard metabolomics (which typically covers compounds under mass 1,000). HMT's patented platform is purpose-built to fill this gap.

These mid-molar peptides include endogenous hormones, bioactive peptides derived through in-vivo proteolysis, and signalling fragments — many of which are clinically significant. Examples include natriuretic peptides in heart disease, proinsulin C-peptide in diabetes, amyloid peptides in Alzheimer's disease, and a wide range of peptide drugs (Angiotensin, Bradykinin, Calcitonin, Oxytocin, and others).

Sequence identification uses the UniProt protein sequence database, enabling species-specific analysis (human, mouse, etc.). The platform is currently offered on 50–200 µL of serum or plasma. Enquiries for other matrices (tissues, plants, fungi) are welcome.

Free amino acids are distinct from protein-bound amino acids — they are the circulating, metabolically active pool in biological fluids and cells. Free amino acids contribute to taste, serve as nitrogen and carbon donors, and are direct substrates for antioxidant synthesis, energy production (ATP), and a wide range of biosynthetic pathways.

HMT's Free Amino Acid Analysis platform uses CE-MS to quantitate all 20 common amino acids, including citrulline and ornithine — two metabolites of the urea cycle that are frequently absent from standard LC-MS amino acid panels due to their highly polar, charged nature. CE-MS is particularly well-suited to this class of compounds.

This panel is useful as a standalone analysis for nutritional research, food science, and amino acid metabolism studies, and can also be combined with other HMT platforms (OMEGA Scan, Q353) for broader context in clinical or biomarker discovery studies.

HMT's Sugar Panel is a newly launched targeted platform measuring 39 analytes across sugar alcohols, deoxyhexoses, aldohexoses, hexoses, amino sugars, monosaccharides, disaccharides, and trisaccharides. It fills an important analytical gap — carbohydrates are central to energy metabolism, immune function, gut health, and food science, yet are poorly covered by standard polar metabolomics platforms.

Sugars are linked to a broad range of disease states. In oncology, dysregulated sugar metabolism is associated with lung, bladder, colorectal, pancreatic, and prostate cancers. In gastrointestinal disease, sugar profiling supports investigation of bacterial overgrowth, malabsorption syndromes, UTI, celiac disease, lactose intolerance, ulcerative colitis, and Crohn's disease. Other disease associations include cachexia, peritoneal dialysis, uremia, kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer's disease, and diabetes mellitus.

The panel is also directly relevant to food, nutrition, and supplement research — characterising natural coagulants, sweeteners, and carbon sources including lactose, maltose, and sucrose. Hexoses serve as primary dietary energy substrates in animals, and their transporters (GLUT1–5, SGLUT1–2) show tissue-specific expression patterns that are clinically significant in metabolic disease, insulin resistance, and cancer.

HMT designs and validates bespoke quantitative assays using CE-MS and LC-MS for any metabolite, in any matrix, for any regulatory context. Whether you need to extend an existing panel, validate a biomarker for clinical use, or develop a novel assay from scratch, HMT co-designs the method with you from first principles.

Validation is tiered to intended use. Research-grade validation is streamlined for early discovery — focused on specificity, linearity, and reproducibility. Biomarker qualification packages support cross-cohort comparability and regulatory submissions. Clinical validation for Phase 2/3 studies includes full calibration curves, accuracy, precision, selectivity, stability, and matrix effect assessments, co-designed by HMT and the client. CE-MS is used where polar metabolite specificity is required; LC-MS where lipophilic analytes or regulatory precedent dictates.

Representative examples include LPA (lysophosphatidic acid) by LC-MS in plasma; Pixatimod and related compounds for drug/metabolite monitoring; inorganic phosphate (PO₄) and pyrophosphate by CE-MS; and surfactant metabolite detection (Triton) in complex matrices. Contact HMT to discuss your specific analyte and validation requirements.