超高效液相色谱-三重四极杆质谱联用检测红色糖多孢菌胞内中间代谢物同位素丰度

采用超高效液相色谱-三重四极杆串联质谱联用仪(LC-MS/MS),建立了能精确检测红色糖多孢菌胞内代谢物13C同位素丰度的方法.在优化的超高效液相色谱的条件及三重四极杆串联质谱的离子传输电压和碰撞池电压下,筛选出各胞内代谢物的最佳离子对.根据物质在LC-MS/MS中生成的母离子和子离子碳链长短及子离子是否含有13C等特性,建立了"一对一"法、"一对多"法和单级质谱SIM法等同位素丰度检测方法.利用这些方法,检测了自然标记标准品和13C标记实验样品,根据实验值与理论值的接近程度筛选出最优方法.结果表明,对于以磷酸糖类为代表的子离子不含有13C的代谢物,"一对一"法最有效;对于以有机酸类为代表的母离子和子离子都含有13C的短碳链代谢物,"一对多"法更有优势;对于以辅酶A类为代表的母离子和子离子都含有13C且碳链较长的代谢物,单级质谱SIM法才能发挥作用.建立的同位素丰度检测方法具有较好的准确度,可应用于红色糖多孢菌胞内代谢物同位素丰度的检测,为后续研究菌体的代谢机理,实现红霉素的高效表达奠定了基础.     

同位素分析的计算方法

在许多没有高分辩质谱的条件下,通过同位素分析可以迅速确认化合物或碎片离子的元素组成。化合物或碎片离子元素组成的确定,对解析它们的结构具有重要意义。为了能够通过同位素分析准确获得元素的组成,必须要求同位素丰度的测量准确。而同位素分析的准确度,不仅同仪器的性质有关;也同其丰度的强弱相关,有时离子的丰度太弱就不适合进行同位素分析。同时要求同位素的丰度不能受其它断裂过程产生的碎片离子干扰,否则不能够得到正确的元素组成结果。因此     

气相色谱串联质谱法用于水产品中多氯联苯二代污染物鉴别

建立了气相色谱串联质谱法鉴别多氯联苯二代污染物羟基多氯联苯的方法,并用于水产品中羟基多氯联苯的分析。在60℃下,羟基多氯联苯经硅烷化衍生40 min,在气相色谱三重四级杆串联质谱仪全扫描模式(Full scan mode)下进行扫描,得到一级质谱全扫描图谱,确定3-羟基-多氯联苯101(3-OH-PCB101)、4-羟基-多氯联苯106(4-OH-PCB106)、4-羟基-多氯联苯112(4-OH-PCB112)等7种衍生化合物丰度最高的碎片离子,以此碎片离子为母离子,在二级质谱多反应监测模式( MRM)下进行扫描,得到二级质谱全扫描图谱,确定母离子产生的丰度最高的特征子离子,以此对应的离子对及其比例对化合物进行定性分析,分别得到7种羟基多氯联苯衍生物的一级、二级质谱图,通过串联质谱法对每种目标化合物进行定量分析,仪器检出限范围为0.02~0.14μg/L,定量检出限为0.09~0.48μg/L。将本方法用于水产品中羟基多氯联苯的鉴别,结果满意。     

13C辅助的超高效液相色谱-三重四极杆质谱联用方法精确分析毕赤酵母胞内代谢物浓度

毕赤酵母作为一种高效的外源蛋白表达平台,其蛋白表达水平与胞内代谢物浓度紧密相关.但胞内代谢物种类多、物化性质差异大、浓度低、周转快,对其绝对浓度的精确检测一直难于实现.本研究将超高效液相色谱-三重四极杆质谱联用分析方法与13C同位素标记技术相结合,探索解决该难题的方法.首先,优化了超高效液相色谱的操作条件,利用3种色谱柱实现了64种常见中间代谢物的分离;对三重四极杆质谱仪的检测离子对和碰撞电压等操作条件进行优化,找到了对各种物质具有专一性的检测离子对.然后,利用全标记13C标记底物培养细胞,收集胞内的全标记代谢物用作定量内标物,建立了53种中间代谢物的标准曲线.实验结果表明,本方法不但精确性高,标准曲线相关系数达到0.99以上,而且重现性好,受实验条件和仪器操作条件的影响很小.将本方法应用于毕赤酵母胞内代谢物浓度的绝对定量分析,成功获得了胞内各种代谢物的浓度水平,为后续深入研究毕赤酵母代谢调控机理,实现外源蛋白的高效生产奠定了基础.     

高效液相色谱-四极杆/静电场轨道阱高分辨质谱对水产品中未知污染物的非定向快速筛查与测定

建立了高效液相色谱-四极杆/静电场轨道阱高分辨质谱对水产品中污染物的非定向快速筛查与测定的方法。筛查时样品用乙腈提取、氮气浓缩吹干、甲醇-水溶液定容，采用全扫描数据依赖二级扫描模式进样分析。利用Trace Finder软件对水产样品中未知污染物的精确质量数、同位素丰度比、二级碎片离子进行数据库检索匹配。定量时样品采用优化的QuEChERS方法净化，对筛查过程确认的三环唑、咖啡因和乙氧基喹啉3种污染物进行目标离子二级扫描模式定量分析。鱼和虾中3种化合物在5~1000 μg/L范围内线性关系良好，相关系数均大于0.99；方法检出限（LOD）为1 μg/kg，定量限（LOQ）为5 μg/kg，平均回收率为70.5~90.9%，相对标准偏差为5.4%~12.8%。筛查方法具有快速、准确、高通量等优点，结合定量方法能够用于实际水产品中未知污染物的筛查与测定。     

LC-MS测定C13-尿素同位素丰度方法的建立

13C-尿素呼气试验(13C-UBT)是采用C13尿素在临床上诊断幽门螺杆菌(Hp)的一种无创性方法,具有高效、灵敏度高、特异性强和使用安全等特点,被认为是除组织培养以外的诊断Hp的"金标准",在临床上已被广泛应用。美国药典使用GC-MS方法检测C13尿素同位素丰度,检测浓度达到12mg／mL,这种方法容易达到饱和状态,也有人用衍生化结合GC-MS方法对尿素进行检测,但衍生化步骤繁琐,且由于尿素的不稳定性易在衍生化过程中发生降解,不适合检测标准的建立。由于国内尚无C13尿素的同位素丰度定量检测方法,所以在选择C13尿素片时缺乏依据,为了更好的开展13C-UBT试验,有必要建立一个能够对高13C-尿素同位素丰度定量的方法。本实验室建立了一种快速、高效地检测13C-尿素同位素丰度的LC-MS方法。     

甘露糖磷酰氨基酸缀合物的ESI-MS研究

一系列全乙酰保护甘露糖-1-磷酰氨基酸酯缀合物的α构型和β构型异构体的ESI-MSn裂解规律研究表明, β构型异构体会出现一系列特征的m/z 433, 391, 371的碎片离子, 且［M-CH2CHCH3+Na］+碎片丰度较大. ［M-糖基+Na］+和［糖基+Na］+碎片相对丰度较小. α构型分子反之. 同时对全乙酰保护的［糖基+Na］+ m/z 353碎片离子进行三级碎裂, 其主要特征是消除CH2CO和AcOH中性分子的碎片离子, 而且其它位羟基构型的差异对质谱中碎裂方式影响不大.     

元素分析-同位素比质谱法测定葡萄酒中乙醇δ 13C值

比较了旋转蒸发仪、全玻璃蒸馏装置和全自动蒸馏控制系统3种蒸馏方法,对葡萄酒乙醇δ13C值的影响,确定了元素分析-同位素比质谱仪(Elementary analysis-isotope ratio mass spectrometer)最佳测定条件,建立了元素分析-同位素比质谱法测定乙醇δ13C值方法。在重复性和再现性条件下,对乙醇标准及葡萄酒乙醇δ13C值进行测定,标准偏差低于0.25‰。检测食品同位素分析技术-能力测试计划(FIT-PTS)两个葡萄酒样品乙醇δ13C值,与给定值相差0.2‰。采用液相色谱-同位素比质谱法(Liquid chromatography-isotope ratio mass spectrometry)与本方法分别对16个国家和地区40个葡萄酒样品的乙醇δ13C值测定,其结果为!23.90‰~28.29‰,且两种检测方法的检测结果差值︳Δδ(EA-LC)max︳<0.3‰,具有较强的相关性(R2=0.9749)。本方法无同位素分馏,适用于葡萄酒中乙醇δ13C值测定。     

碳同位素标准品及其~(13)C丰度研究

天然碳元素含~(12)C 和~(13)C 两种同位素,其中~(13)C 的丰度由于产源的不同,平均为1.10±0.03原子%。PDB 标准样品的碳同位素原子比 R_(13/12)=0.011237,即~(13)C的丰度为1.1112原子%。本实验室钢瓶 CO_2经测定为 R_(13/12)=0.011196,相应于~(13)C 丰度为1.1072原子%。碳酸钡试剂为北京化工厂分析纯,烘干后用高氯     

加速溶剂萃取-固相萃取-液相色谱-电喷雾串联质谱法同时测定羊栖菜中六溴环十二烷异构体

采用同位素稀释-高效液相色谱-电喷雾串联四级杆质谱法同时测定羊栖菜中3种六溴环十二烷(HBCD)非对映异构体.羊栖菜样品磨碎、加入同位素内标13C-HBCD后以乙酸乙酯为提取溶剂,采用加速溶剂萃取法,使用Waters X Bridge(TM)C18反相柱分离;流动相为10mmoL的乙酸铵/乙腈(0.1%乙酸)/甲醇,在等度条件下分析,目标分析物在多反应监测(MRM)模式下以保留时间和离子对(母离子和两个碎片离子)信息比较进行定性分析,内标法定量.结果表明,在7min内即可完成α,β和γ-HBCD 3种同分异构体的分离,检测限(LOD)为0.3～1.0ng/g,定量限(LOQ)为1.0～4.0ng/g,添加水平为5、10和25ng/g时,3种被测物的加标回收率为92.7%～102.5%,相对标准偏差小于3.9%.本方法为评价羊栖菜样品质量提供了新的检测方法.     

Determination of 13C isotopic enrichment of valine and threonine by GC-C-IRMS after formation of the N(O,S)-ethoxycarbonyl ethyl ester derivatives of the amino acids

We describe a new method of assessing, in a single run, ¹³C isotopic enrichment of both Val and Thr by gas chromatography–combustion–isotope-ratio mass spectrometry (GC–C–IRMS). This method characterised by a rapid one-step derivatisation procedure performed at room temperature to form the N(O,S)-ethoxycarbonyl ethyl ester derivatives, and a polar column for GC. The suitability of this method for Val and Thr in in-vivo samples (mucosal hydrolysate) was demonstrated by studying protein metabolism with two tracers (¹³C-valine or ¹³C-threonine). The intra-day and inter-day repeatability were both assessed either with standards or with in-vivo samples at natural abundance and at low ¹³C isotopic enrichment. For inter-day repeatability CVs were between 0.8 and 1.5% at natural abundance and lower than 5.5% at 0.112 and 0.190 atom% enrichment for Val and Thr, respectively. Overall isotopic precision was studied for eleven standard amino acid derivatives (those of Val, Ala, Leu, Iso, Gly, Pro, Asp, Thr, Ser, Met, and Phe) and was assessed at 0.32‰. The ¹³C isotopic measurement was then extended to the other amino acids (Ala, Val, Leu, Iso, Gly, Pro, Thr, and Phe) at natural abundance for in-vivo samples. The isotopic precision was better than 0.002 atom% per amino acid (for n = 4 rats). This analytical method was finally applied to an animal study to measure Thr utilization in protein synthesis.     

The uniqueness of humic substances in each of soil,stream and marine environments

Definitive compositional differences are shown to exist for both fulvic acids and humic acids from soil, stream and marine environments by five different methods (¹H and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy, ¹⁴C age and δ¹³C isotopic analyses, amino acid analyses and pyrolysis-mass spectrometry). Definitive differences are also found between fulvic acids and humic acids within each environment. These differences among humic substances from various sources are more readily discerned because the method employed for the isolation of humic substances from all environments excludes most of the non-humic components and results in more purified humic isolates from water and soils. The major compositional aspects of fulvic acids and humic acids which determine the observed characteristic differences in each environment are the amounts and composition of saccharide, phenolic, methoxyl, aromatic, hydrocarbon, amino acids and nitrogen moieties.     

Increasing the accuracy of mass isotopomer analysis through calibration curves constructed using biologically synthesized compounds

Mass isotopomer analysis is an important technique to measure the production and flow of metabolites in living cells, tissues, and organisms. This technique depends on accurate quantifications of different mass isotopomers using mass spectrometry. Constructing calibration curves using standard samples is the most universal approach to convert raw mass spectrometry measurements into quantitative distributions of mass isotopomers. Calibration curve approach has been, however, of very limited use in comprehensive analyses of biological systems, mainly suffering from the lack of extensive range of standard samples with accurately known isotopic enrichment. Here, we present a biological method capable of synthesizing specifically labeled amino acids. These amino acids have well‐determined and estimable mass isotopomer distributions and thus can serve as standard samples. In this method, the bacterium strain Methylobacterium salsuginis sp. nov. was cultivated with partially ¹³C‐labeled methanol as the only carbon source to produce ¹³C‐enriched compounds. We show that the mass isotopomer distributions of the various biosynthesized amino acids are well determined and can be reasonably estimated based on proposed binomial approximation if the labeling state of the biomass reached an isotopic steady state. The interference of intramolecular inhomogeneity of ¹³C isotope abundances caused by biological isotope fractionation was eliminated by estimating average ¹³C isotope abundance. Further, the predictions are tested experimentally by mass spectrometry (MS) spectra of the labeled glycine, alanine, and aspartic acid. Most of the error in mass spectrometry measurements was less than 0.74 mol% in the test case, significantly reduced as compared with uncalibrated results, and this error is expected to be less than 0.4 mol% in real experiment as revealed by theoretical analysis. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Separation and Quantification of Water-Soluble Cellular Metabolites in Clostridium thermocellum using Liquid Chromatography-Isotope Dilution Tandem Mass Spectrometry

A new protocol for metabolomic studies was developed by combining liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry and isotope dilution mass spectrometry with universal ¹³C labeled internal standards from Escherichia Coli. The multiple reaction monitoring mode of mass spectrometry was used for quantification. Forty-five water-soluble intracellular metabolites, including 20 amino acids, 16 organic acids (primarily from the tricarboxylic acid cycle), and 9 cofactors, were measured and 34 of them were successfully quantified using the ¹³C-labeled internal standards. The limit of detection, limit of quantification, precision, and linearity of the methods were evaluated. The methods were applied to the quantitative analysis of intracellular metabolites extracted from wild-type and ethanol-adapted strains of Clostridium thermocellum cultivated with and without ethanol stress, and all 34 metabolites including all 9 cofactors were successfully quantified. Further multivariate data analyses of the metabolic differences between wild-type and ethanol-adapted strains were performed on the quantitative data, which can help elucidate the metabolic mechanism behind ethanol adaptation in C. thermocellum.

Supplemental materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of Analytical Letters to view the supplemental file.     

A quantitative liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry method for metabolomic analysis of Plasmodium falciparum lipid related metabolites

Plasmodium falciparum is the causative agent of malaria, a deadly infectious disease for which treatments are scarce and drug-resistant parasites are now increasingly found. A comprehensive method of identifying and quantifying metabolites of this intracellular parasite could expand the arsenal of tools to understand its biology, and be used to develop new treatments against the disease. Here, we present two methods based on liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry for reliable measurement of water-soluble metabolites involved in phospholipid biosynthesis, as well as several other metabolites that reflect the metabolic status of the parasite including amino acids, carboxylic acids, energy-related carbohydrates, and nucleotides. A total of 35 compounds was quantified. In the first method, polar compounds were retained by hydrophilic interaction chromatography (amino column) and detected in negative mode using succinic acid-¹³C₄ and fluorovaline as internal standards. In the second method, separations were carried out using reverse phase (C18) ion-pair liquid chromatography, with heptafluorobutyric acid as a volatile ion pairing reagent in positive detection mode, using d₉-choline and 4-aminobutanol as internal standards. Standard curves were performed in P. falciparum-infected and uninfected red blood cells using standard addition method (r² > 0.99). The intra- and inter-day accuracy and precision as well as the extraction recovery of each compound were determined. The lower limit of quantitation varied from 50 pmol to 100 fmol/3 × 10⁷ cells. These methods were validated and successfully applied to determine intracellular concentrations of metabolites from uninfected host RBCs and isolated Plasmodium parasites.     

Spectral analysis of 1H coupled 13C spectra of the amino acids: adaptive spectral library of amino acid 13C isotopomers and positional fractional 13C enrichments

The natural abundance 1H-coupled 13C NMR spectra of all proteogenic amino acids were measured in D2O at pH* 1. The accurate 1H,13C spin-spin coupling constants were analyzed using total-line-shape fitting. The obtained spectral parameters can be used to establish a spectral library of amino acid 13C isotopomers. The adaptive spectral library principle is introduced and discussed in this article. The simulated spectra can be applied to quantification of 13C isotopomer mixtures of amino acids and, thus, for exploring metabolic pathways. Also a protocol for amino acid 13C isotopomer metabolomic profiling in 13C labeled glucose feeding experiments is outlined. The approach is suggested to give invaluable information about positional fractional 13C enrichments, which are not easily available by any other method.     

Advantages of compound‐specific stable isotope measurements over bulk measurements in studies on plant uptake of intact amino acids

Increasing interest in the ability of plants to take up amino acids has given rise to questions on the accuracy of the commonly used bulk method to measure and calculate amino acid uptake. This method uses bulk measurements of ¹³C and ¹⁵N enrichment in plant tissues after application of dual‐labelled amino acids but some authors have recommended the use of compound‐specific stable isotope (CSI) analysis of the plants' amino acids instead. However, there has never been a direct evaluation of both methods. We conducted a field study applying dual‐labelled (¹³C, ¹⁵N) amino acids (glycine, valine, tyrosine and lysine) to soil of a Plantago lanceolata monoculture. Root and shoot samples were collected 24 h after label application and the isotope composition of the plant tissues was investigated using bulk and CSI measurements. Enrichment of ¹³C in the case of CSI measurements was limited to the applied amino acids, showing that no additional ¹³C had been incorporated into the plants' amino acid pool via the uptake of tracer‐derived C‐fragments. Compared with this rather conservative indicator of amino acid uptake, the ¹³C enrichment of bulk measurements was 8, 5, 1.6 and 6 times higher for fine roots, storage roots, shoot and the whole plant, respectively. These findings show that the additional uptake of tracer‐derived C‐fragments will result in a considerable overestimation of amino acid uptake in the case of bulk measurements. We therefore highly recommend the use of CSI measurements for future amino acid uptake studies due to their higher accuracy. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Metabolic profiling of amino acids in cellular samples via zwitterionic sub-2 μm particle size HILIC-MS/MS and a uniformly 13C labeled internal standard

A novel analytical method using hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography combined with electrospray tandem mass spectrometry for metabolic profiling of free, underivatized amino acids is presented. The separation uses a zwitterionic modified silica-based stationary phase with 1.8-μm particle size functionalized with ammonium sulfonic acid groups. Quantification is based on external standard calibration using a Pichia pastoris cell extract grown on uniformly ¹³C labeled glucose as an internal standard. The absolute limits of detection in the cellular matrix were in the subpicomolar range. Measurement accuracy was assessed by analyzing NIST Standard Reference Material 2389a, which provides certified values for 17 amino acids. The recovery of the amino acids ranged between 65 % (proline) and 120 % (lysine), with excellent repeatability precision below 2.5 % (n?=?5). Only, cystine showed poor recovery (29 %) and repeatability precision (13 %). Generally, the long-term precision obtained by hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry was excellent, being on average less than 9 % over 20 h of measurement time. Moreover, the novel separation method had average repeatability and reproducibility of the chromatographic peak width over time periods of 20 h and 6 months of 8 and 15 %, respectively, demonstrating its high robustness in routine analysis of cellular samples. Large concentration differences depending on the amino acid were found in the cell extracts, typically ranging from 0.002 nmol per milligram of cell dry weight (cystine) to 56 nmol per milligram of cell dry weight (arginine and glutamic acid).     

Strong anion exchange liquid chromatographic separation of protein amino acids for natural 13C-abundance determination by isotope ratio mass spectrometry

Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins and the analysis of their ¹³C abundances is greatly simplified by the use of liquid chromatography (LC) systems coupled with isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) compared with gas chromatography (GC)‐based methods. To date, various cation exchange chromatography columns have been employed for amino acid separation. Here, we report strong anion exchange chromatography (SAX) coupled to IRMS with a Liquiface interface for amino acid δ¹³C determination. Mixtures of underivatised amino acids (0.1–0.5 mM) and hydrolysates of representative proteins (prawns and bovine serum albumin) were resolved by LC/IRMS using a SAX column and inorganic eluents. Background inorganic carbon content was minimised through careful preparation of alkaline reagents and use of a pre‐injector on‐line carbonate removal device. SAX chromatography completely resolved 11 of the 16 expected protein amino acids following acid hydrolysis in underivatised form. Basic and neutral amino acids were resolved with 35 mM NaOH in isocratic mode. Elution of the aromatic and acidic amino acids required a higher hydroxide concentration (180 mM) and a counterion (NO, 5–25 mM). The total run time was 70 min. The average δ¹³C precision of baseline‐resolved peaks was 0.75‰ (range 0.04 to 1.06‰). SAX is a viable alternative to cation chromatography, especially where analysis of basic amino acids is important. The technology shows promise for ¹³C amino acid analysis in ecology, archaeology, forensic science, nutrition and protein metabolism. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Improving detection sensitivity of amino acids in thyroid tissues by using phthalic acid as a mobile phase additive in hydrophilic interaction chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry

In this work, 0.08 mmol L⁻¹ of phthalic acid was introduced as a mobile phase additive to quantify free amino acids (AAs) by hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) coupled with electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MS/MS). The addition of phthalic acid significantly increased the signal intensity of protonated AA ions, resulting from the decrease of the relative abundance of AA sodium adducts. Meanwhile, the chromatographic peak shapes of AAs were optimized. As a consequence, there was a noticeable increase in the sensitivity of detection for AAs. The limits of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) of the AAs ranged from 0.0500 to 20.0 ng mL⁻¹ and from 0.100 to 50.0 ng mL⁻¹, respectively, which were 4–50 times lower compared to the values measured without the addition of phthalic acid. The enhanced detection and separation of AAs were obtained by merely adding phthalic acid to the mobile phase without changing other conditions. Eventually, this simple method was validated and successfully applied to the analysis of twenty-four kinds of free AAs in human thyroid carcinoma and para-carcinoma tissues, demonstrating a significant increase of most AAs in thyroid carcinoma tissues (p < 0.05).