Monitoring of metabolic profiling and water status of Hayward kiwifruits by nuclear magnetic resonance

The metabolic profiling of kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa, Hayward cultivar) aqueous extracts and the water status of entire kiwifruits were monitored over the season (June-December) using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) methodologies. The metabolic profiling of aqueous kiwifruit extracts was investigated by means of high field NMR spectroscopy. A large number of water-soluble metabolites were assigned by means of 1D and 2D NMR experiments. The change in the metabolic profiles monitored over the season allowed the kiwifruit development to be investigated. Specific temporal trends of aminoacids, sugars, organic acids and other metabolites were observed.The water status of kiwifruits was monitored directly on the intact fruit measuring the T₂ spin-spin relaxation time by means of a portable unilateral NMR instrument, fully non-invasive. Again, clear trends of the relaxation time were observed during the monitoring period.The results show that the monitoring of the metabolic profiling and the monitoring of the water status are two complementary means suitable to have a complete view of the investigated fruit.     

天冬酰胺的环化缩合反应及其在合成拮抗剂与吗啡肽中的应用

天冬酰胺的环化缩合反应及其在合成拮抗剂与吗啡肽中的应用;四氢嘧啶酮;构象;内源性吗啡肽     

A novel method for the formation of N-glycosides using hydroxamate

Direct formation of Asn-linked carbohydrate by N-glycosylation has been difficult, because of the lack of nucleophilicity of carboxamide nitrogen. We report here the novel N-glycosylation using Asn hydroxamate as a glycosyl acceptor. Reaction with glycosyl fluoride or glycosyl trichloroacetimidate afforded N-glycoside and subsequent reduction with SmI₂ gave Asn-linked glucose. Carbamate derived hydroxamates proved to have even enhanced reactivity to give N-glycosides in high yields.     

A Facile Synthesis of N γ-Glycosyl Asparagine Conjugates and Short N-Linked Glycopeptides

Both free and protected glycosyl azides were efficiently coupled to the side chain of aspartate by the Staudinger reaction for the synthesis of N ^γ-glycosyl asparagine conjugates and short N-linked glycopeptides that can be employed to construct complex N-linked glycopeptides. In the process, a facile two-step protocol was developed for free glycosyl azide synthesis, which includes reported direct transformation of free oligosaccharides into glycosyl amines through reaction with ammonium bicarbonate and then stereospecific diazo transfer reaction to convert glycosyl amines to glycosyl azides.     

不同裂解条件对天冬酰胺主要裂解产物的影响

采用在线裂解气相色谱-质谱联用技术(Py/GC-MS)对不同条件下天冬酰胺的主要裂解产物进行分析,并通过裂解同位素标记样品,计算主要含氮裂解产物中的同位素比例,推测其形成途径,研究裂解条件对主要裂解产物形成的影响。结果表明:温度对天冬酰胺裂解影响较大,主要裂解产物在低温和高温下生成量变化较大。300℃时,马来酰亚胺和琥珀酰亚胺为主要的裂解产物,300～600℃时生成量显著增加,600～900℃时马来酰亚胺生成量缓慢增加而琥珀酰亚胺逐渐降低;随着温度升高,酸类和酰胺类物质生成量持续增加;腈类和吡咯类物质在高温下生成量明显增加。此外,温度对含氮裂解产物的形成途径也有较大影响。马来酰亚胺、乙酰胺在低温下N主要来源于标记的酰胺N,而在高温下主要来源于未标记的氨基N。氢氰酸、乙腈和丙烯腈中的N原子均主要由未标记的氨基转变而来,且随着温度升高,这种生成途径所占比例越高。而裂解气氛和裂解时间对天冬酰胺主要裂解产物的生成量及途径影响较小。     

用太赫兹时域光谱技术探测天冬酰胺的低频集体吸收频谱

用太赫兹时域光谱技术研究了室温条件下的多晶天冬酰胺样品的光谱特征，得到了相应的吸收谱和折射率.这说明样品在这个波段存在光谱响应，可以用来探测分子的结构和振动情况.研究发现，天冬酰胺在实验测量有效光谱范围(0.5—2.4THz)内有两个吸收峰，一个是位于1.642—1.758THz的宽带峰，另一个是位于2.266THz的吸收峰.用密度泛函方法在B3LYP/6-31+G(d,p)基组下做了模拟计算，并对获得的频谱进行了解析，计算得到的峰位与实验结果符合较好. 关键词： 太赫兹 时域光谱技术 氨基酸 天冬酰胺     

NMR metabolic profiling of organic and aqueous sea bass extracts: implications in the discrimination of wild and cultured sea bass

The nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technique was used as analytical tool to determine the complete metabolic profiling of sea bass extracts: water-soluble metabolites belonging to different classes such as sugars, amino acids, dipeptides and organic acids as well as metabolites soluble in organic solvent such as lipids, sterols and fatty acids were identified. The metabolite profiling together with a suitable statistical analysis were used to discriminate between wild and cultured sea bass samples. Preliminary results show that discrimination between wild and cultured sea bass was obtained not only using fatty acid composition but also cholesterol and phosphatidylethanolamine and some water-soluble metabolites such as choline, trimethylamine oxide, glutamine, fumaric and malic acids.     

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).     

Independent highly sensitive characterization of asparagine deamidation and aspartic acid isomerization by sheathless CZE‐ESI‐MS/MS

Amino acids residues are commonly submitted to various physicochemical modifications occurring at physiological pH and temperature. Post‐translational modifications (PTMs) require comprehensive characterization because of their major influence on protein structure and involvement in numerous in vivo process or signaling. Mass spectrometry (MS) has gradually become an analytical tool of choice to characterize PTMs; however, some modifications are still challenging because of sample faint modification levels or difficulty to separate an intact peptide from modified counterparts before their transfer to the ionization source. Here, we report the implementation of capillary zone electrophoresis coupled to electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (CZE‐ESI‐MS/MS) by the intermediate of a sheathless interfacing for independent and highly sensitive characterization of asparagine deamidation (deaN) and aspartic acid isomerization (isoD). CZE selectivity regarding deaN and isoD was studied extensively using different sets of synthetic peptides based on actual tryptic peptides. Results demonstrated CZE ability to separate the unmodified peptide from modified homologous exhibiting deaN, isoD or both independently with a resolution systematically superior to 1.29. Developed CZE‐ESI‐MS/MS method was applied for the characterization of monoclonal antibodies and complex protein mixture. Conserved CZE selectivity could be demonstrated even for complex samples, and foremost results obtained showed that CZE selectivity is similar regardless of the composition of the peptide. Separation of modified peptides prior to the MS analysis allowed to characterize and estimate modification levels of the sample independently for deaN and isoD even for peptides affected by both modifications and, as a consequence, enables to distinguish the formation of l ‐aspartic acid or d ‐aspartic acid generated from deaN. Separation based on peptide modification allowed, as supported by the ESI efficiency provided by CZE‐ESI‐MS/MS properties, and enabled to characterize and estimate studied PTMs with an unprecedented sensitivity and proved the relevance of implementing an electrophoretic driven separation for MS‐based peptide analysis. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

GaP Raman Terahertz high accuracy spectrometer and its application to detect organic and inorganic crystalline defects

One of the most important uses of THz spectrometry is to detect defects in molecular structure or in crystals efficiently. We applied GaP Raman THz (GRT) spectrometer to detect and evaluate defects in inorganic and organic materials. High THz-wave absorption due to high defect density of GaSe crystal lowered the efficiency of THz wave generation, when the crystal is used as nonlinear material for DFG (Difference Frequency Generation). Defects in organic molecules could be observed as changes in frequency, intensities of the absorption, and broadenings of the spectra.