Technische Universität München
Identifying pathogens within minutes instead of days
TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF MUNICH
NEWS RELEASE
Mass spectrometry detects bacteria without time-consuming isolation and multiplication
Identifying pathogens within minutes instead of days
- Identification directly in tissue and stool samples
- So far 232 medically important bacterial species detectable
- Database must now be further expanded
Speed and reliability are crucial in the diagnosis of diseases. Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and Imperial College London have developed a new method to identify bacteria with unprecedented speed. This means that the waiting time can be reduced from several days to just a few minutes.
Traditionally, bacterial diseases are diagnosed by the tedious isolation of pathogens and the creation of bacterial cultures. Waiting times of several days are the rule here. Only then can the targeted treatment of the disease begin. The team led by Nicole Strittmatter, Professor of Analytical Chemistry at TUM, and Dr. James S. McKenzie (Imperial) uses mass spectrometry for its innovative approach. This enabled the researchers to identify specific metabolic products of bacteria directly in tissue and stool samples.
At the heart of the process is a database in which 232 medically important bacterial species and their metabolic products have been recorded to date. Biomarkers are derived from this database, which can then be used to directly detect specific bacteria. Among the bacteria that can be identified using the new method are clinically extremely important pathogens that can, for example, trigger stomach cancer, are responsible for certain pneumonias and meningitis, are associated with premature births, and can cause gonorrhea or blood poisoning.
Further expanding the bacterial database
First author Wei Chen, PhD student at the Department of Bioscience at the TUM School of Natural Sciences in Garching, emphasizes: "Our innovative approach is not to look directly for the pathogenic bacteria, but only for their metabolic products. This allows us to detect them indirectly, but much more quickly."
Prof. Nicole Strittmatter also sees great opportunities for use in personalized medicine, in which the therapy is precisely tailored to the respective patient: "This is one of the most important future topics in biotechnology and medicine. Targeted interventions can dramatically improve the chances of successful treatment. As analysts, we develop modern tools and methods for doctors to do this."
The biomarker database now needs to be further expanded to enable the regular use of the new method in clinical practice. According to the researchers, a total of over 1400 bacterial pathogens are known and described. Their specific metabolic products should now be identified and included.
Publication:
Chen, W., Qiu, M., Paizs, P. et al. Universal, untargeted detection of bacteria in tissues using metabolomics workflow, published in: Nat Commun 16, 165 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-55457-7
Additional material for media outlets:
Photos for download: https://go.tum.de/912705
Subject matter expert:
Prof. Nicole Strittmatter, PhD
Technical University of Munich
TUM School of Natural Sciences - Department of Biosciences
+49 89 289 13321
TUM Corporate Communications Center contact:
Ulrich Meyer
Press Spokesman
+49 89 289 22779
The Technical University of Munich (TUM) is one of the world’s leading universities in terms of research, teaching and innovation, with around 700 professorships, 53,000 students and 12,000 staff. TUM’s range of subjects includes engineering, natural and life sciences, medicine, computer sciences, mathematics, economics and social sciences. As an entrepreneurial university, TUM envisages itself as a global hub of knowledge exchange, open to society. Every year, more than 70 start-ups are founded at TUM, which acts as a key player in Munich’s high-tech ecosystem. The university is represented around the world by its TUM Asia campus in Singapore along with offices in Beijing, Brussels, Mumbai, San Francisco and São Paulo. Nobel Prize laureates and inventors such as Rudolf Diesel, Carl von Linde and Rudolf Mößbauer have conducted research at TUM, which was awarded the title of University of Excellence in 2006, 2012 and 2019. International rankings regularly cite TUM as the best university in the European Union.