Host-Microbe Metabolomics Facility

Sample Submission FAQs

ATTENTION: NEW SAMPLE SUBMISSION PROCESS FOR THE HMMF 

Please see below for Sample Submission FAQ’s. If your question is not addressed below, please contact Ashley Sidebottom.

If you are having issues with LabLink, please contact Shannon Hocker. 

Please note, two separate accounts are required for MMF and HMMF submission, however, the username is the same and you may set the password to be the same

  1. Login to the LabLink page. (if you do not have a LabLink account, you will need to create one. Please see instructions in accordion menu below)
  2. Go to the “Resource Materials” tab.
  3. Download and fill out the template for the service(s) you are requesting.   *You must fill out the template first or you will not be able to submit your project. Additionally, do not add any additional COLUMNS, COMMAS, or DASHES or your submission will not go through! *
  4. Save your template somewhere convenient (i.e. your Desktop).
  5. Go back to the LabLink page (Note: make sure you are on the “Projects” tab).
  6. Press the “Create” button in the top right corner.
  7. Fill out all required fields on the form and press “Continue”.
  8. Press the “Browse Document” button and select your completed template from step 3.
  9. Skip the “Upload Additional Documents” step unless you are requesting the TMS Panel. If so, please upload that form here.
  10. Review all details of your project, and check all boxes in the disclaimer at the bottom of the form. Press “Submit Project” when you are ready.
  1. Go to the LabLink page.
  2. Click “Request for a User ID”.
  3. Fill out all required fields on form and press “Request User ID”.

Within 24 hours, you will receive an email notification when your ID request has been approved so you can successfully login.
  1. Discuss your project with Ashley Sidebottom, the Director of the HMMF, before designing and conducting experiments or collecting samples to ensure high-quality data. The DFI’s mission is focused on host-microbe interactions and the project must fall within the scope of the institute to be accepted for processing and analysis.
  2. Record the weight or volume of your samples and submit them in either screw-cap or Eppendorf tubes. Do not submit in bead tubes.
  3. Check weight and volume of samples to ensure they meet the minimums for submission: Minimum gastrointestinal content (fecal):
    • 20 mg for SCFA (PFBBr)
    • 20 mg for Bile Acids
    • 20 mg for GCMS Profiling (TMS-MOX)
    • 40 mg for Indole (Tryptophan Pathway Metabolites/B Vitamins)

    Minimum liquid sample (culture supernatant, serum):

    • 50 µL for each panel (EX: 3 panels = 150 µL minimum)
  4. Prepare the necessary controls. All submitted samples obtained from a specific medium must be accompanied by a media or matrix blank (EX: media broth blanks, luminal aspirate liquid, etc.).

Samples should be dropped off at KCBD 4th Floor, 900 E 57th Street, Chicago IL 60615. There are signs as you get off the elevator that lead you to the sample drop-off freezer.

Upon exiting the the elevator, follow signs to laboratory. Sample submission freezer is located near the service elevator.

All data is analyzed in-house by DFI – HMMF personnel. Derived data will be sent as Excel files by email and uploaded to your LabLink account under “Results & Documents”. Raw data is stored at UChicago on dedicated servers and on an in-house computer managed by the DFI – HMMF. The DFI – HMMF can assist in raw data upload (.d, Agilent; .raw, Thermo Fisher) for publication or as necessary to public repositories.