A paper on the metabolome data repository MB-POST has been published

On Jul 27, 2026, a research group of Professor Shujiro Okuda of the Medical AI Center at Niigata University's School of Medicine developed MB-POST, a new data repository designed to efficiently store and share mass spectrometry data obtained through metabolome analysis. The group also published a paper on the subject in the American Chemical Society journal "Analytical Chemistry". On the same day, Niigata University, Osaka University, Keio University, Kyoto University, and the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) issued a joint press release.

In metabolome analysis, which uses mass spectrometry to comprehensively measure diverse chemical substances in biological systems and the environment, data reuse is difficult without detailed information on experimental conditions and other parameters. However, the field previously lacked established minimum information standards for data sharing. Consequently, existing metabolome data repositories required researchers to input a vast number of items during submission, placing a significant burden on them. To address this, the research group conducted a comprehensive review of existing metabolome data and developed MB-POST, a new mass spectrometry data repository optimized for metabolomics research; it collects only the metadata necessary and sufficient for data re-analysis, while keeping the process concise. MB-POST features the proprietary PRESTO system for high-speed, efficient submission of the huge datasets generated by mass spectrometers. Additionally, it standardizes metadata into a machine-readable format by managing information--such as biological species and measurement conditions--using standardized vocabularies, thereby facilitating data comparison and integrated analysis across different studies.

MB-POST has been developed as part of the Shin-MassBank Project, a pipeline for processing mass spectrometry data. The project team comprises members of the MassBank consortium and operates in collaboration with the Spectral Data Division of The Mass Spectrometry Society of Japan (MSSJ). MassBank is an internationally widely used mass spectral database in the field of metabolomics, primarily utilized for metabolite identification; however, a known limitation has been the restricted number of spectra in its collection, as it has historically focused on high-quality spectra derived from reference standards. The Shin-MassBank Project aims to dramatically increase the number of spectra in MassBank by establishing protocols for high-quality data re-analysis, collecting a wide range of mass spectra obtained from biological samples in general research, and incorporating the resulting top-quality analysis data into the database. MB-POST serves the role of spectral collection, representing the initial step of the Shin-MassBank Project.

MB-POST was released as a beta version for trial in Dec 2024, followed by its official launch in Oct 2025. As of Jul 2026, it hosts 180 projects comprising a total of 2.8 TB of data--an exceptionally high level of usage for a newly developed metabolomics data repository that has not yet been widely publicized through academic publications. The authors state that they aim to provide valuable data and information to metabolomics researchers in Japan and around the world by strengthening collaboration with international metabolomics data-sharing frameworks and promoting the global exchange and reuse of metabolomics data.

For further details, please refer to the research paper and the press release.

MB-POST is developed as part of Database Integration Coordination Program (DICP) "Development of next generation mass spectra data base, Shin-MassBank" (Principal Investigator: Fumio Matsuda, Professor, Osaka University).

＜MB-POST Data Holdings＞ (as of July 27, 2026)

• Registered data: 185 projects (102 of which are publicly available)
• Number of files: 42,795 (2.8 TB)

Fig：Positioning of MB-POST within the Shin-MassBank Project

The Shin-MassBank Project aims to develop a new data processing pipeline for archiving product ion (MS2) spectra obtained from biological samples. This pipeline comprises three databases: "MB-POST," a user-friendly raw data repository; "MassBank Human," a library of MS2 spectra derived from human metabolome datasets; and "MassBank in silico," which provides metabolite annotation capabilities using in silico data.