An atlas of the human metabolome

Chan, J. K.; Ly, N. S.; Taverniti, O.; Gwynne, W. D.; Lieng, B. Y.; Affe, V.; Urquhart-Cox, V. T.; Alonzi, S. M.; Muhundan, M.; Denhart, A. J.; Edgar, L. J.; Quaile, A. T.; Montenegro-Burke, J. R.

doi:10.64898/2026.05.21.726638

bioRxiv · 10.64898/2026.05.21.726638

An atlas of the human metabolome

Chan, J. K.·Ly, N. S.·Taverniti, O.·Gwynne, W. D.·Lieng, B. Y.·Affe, V.·Urquhart-Cox, V. T.·Alonzi, S. M.·Muhundan, M.·Denhart, A. J.·Edgar, L. J.·Quaile, A. T.·Montenegro-Burke, J. R.

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Abstract

Despite the emergence of cellular atlases like the Human Protein Atlas, no equivalent atlas exists for the human metabolome. Here, we present the Human Metabolome Atlas (HMA, hma.ccbr.utoronto.ca), a comprehensive map containing metabolomic profiles of 70 human cell lines across 22 tissues. With an [~]8-fold increase in coverage compared to other resources, the HMA contains quantitative data for 1768 metabolites at the highest identification confidence, encompassing over 50 lipid classes and a broad range of metabolic pathways. This constitutes the most extensive human metabolomic atlas available. Leveraging the HMA, we identified specific metabolic regulation within pathways and cell types and characterized metabolic processes like glycosylation and ferroptosis. Lastly, we developed a publicly available, interactive web-portal to facilitate custom data analysis for the broader scientific community.

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Chan, J. K., Ly, N. S., Taverniti, O., Gwynne, W. D., Lieng, B. Y., Affe, V., Urquhart-Cox, V. T., Alonzi, S. M., Muhundan, M., Denhart, A. J., Edgar, L. J., Quaile, A. T., Montenegro-Burke, J. R.. 2026-05-22. An atlas of the human metabolome. https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.05.21.726638

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