Elucidating Factors Manipulated the Formation of Multiply Charged Protein Homomultimeric Complexes by Electrospray Ionization

Native non‐covalently bonded protein‐protein and protein‐substrate complexes are of great interest and have been extensively studied by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI‐MS). Multiply charged protein homomultimeric complexes are shown to form by ESI‐MS. This study addresses factors that can artificially induce the formation of multiply charged protein homomultimeric complexes. Cytochrome c (Cyt c) and ubiquitin, which are monomers in solution, were found to generate (Cyt c)_mⁿ⁺ by electrospray ionization (ESI). The homomultimeric complexes were not limited to dimeric complexes but include also multiply charged trimers, tetramers, and pentamers. The observation of these homomultimeric complexes has never been revealed from a Cyt c solution at the concentration as low as 10 μM. Increasing the concentration of Cyt c enhanced the formation of (Cyt c)_mⁿ⁺ as expected; however, the protein concentration does not affect the relative intensities of monomeric and dimeric complexes. Additionally the enrichment of NH₄OH also promotes the formation of (Cyt c)_mⁿ⁺. Notably, source collision‐induced dissociations (source‐CID) of (Cyt c)_mⁿ⁺ alter the charge state distribution (CSD) and may lead to an incorrect interpretation of Cyt c conformations. Hence, extra care should be taken when using CSD to interpret the conformation of a protein derived from ESI‐MS.     

合成多肽的电喷雾质谱研究

利用电喷雾多极串联质谱对3种合成多肽进行了系统的鉴定和分析研究。首先通过全扫描模式测定了其分子量，然后选择[M H]^ 或[M 2H]^2 离子通过串联质谱(MS／MS)得到碎片离子，采用y离子和b离子互补的方法测定了多肽序列。利用文献数据对这种方法进行了验证，实验结果表明，该方法简便、快速、实用。     

Analytical procedures for quantification of peptides in pharmaceutical research by liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry

Peptide quantification by liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC–MS) combines the high resolving power of reversed-phase (RP) chromatography with the excellent selectivity and sensitivity of mass spectrometric detection. On the basis of comprehensive practical experience in the analysis of small molecules, pharmaceutical research is developing technologies for analysis of a growing number of peptidic drug candidates. This article is a detailed review of procedures based on LC–MS techniques for quantitative determination of peptides. With the focus on pharmaceutical applications several technologies for sample preparation, various aspects of peptide chromatography, important characteristics of ESI–MS, selectivity of MS-detection modes, the large variability of internal standards, and modern instrumentation are discussed. The demand for reliable, robust, sensitive, and accurate methods is discussed using numerous examples from the literature, complemented by experiments and results from our laboratory.     

Quantitative analysis of perchlorate in extracts of whole fish homogenates by ion chromatography: comparison of suppressed conductivity detection and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

The perchlorate anion (ClO ₄ ^– ) is an anthropogenic contaminant of increasing concern in water supplies, and has been shown to disrupt thyroid activity. Most perchlorate analyses are currently carried out by ion chromatography (IC) with suppressed conductivity detection (SCD). While this procedure has been demonstrated to provide acceptable performance for analysis of water samples, the determination of perchlorate in high-conductivity aqueous extracts of plant or animal material is not readily accomplished by IC-SCD unless lengthy cleanup protocols are applied. With the addition of electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) to IC, it was hypothesized that the interference imposed by various ionic species could be significantly reduced without the need for purification; however, the analysis of perchlorate in relatively unpurified extracts of biologically derived homogenates by IC-ESI-MS has not previously been described in the literature. The research presented here represents a comparison of the capabilities of IC-SCD and IC-ESI-MS to detect perchlorate in reagent water and in crude extracts of perchlorate-exposed fish (threespine stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus). ESI-MS was found to compare favorably to SCD for the detection of perchlorate in deionized water, and to exceed SCD performance in perchlorate analysis of fish-derived extracts.     

Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry of ionic liquids and determination of their solubility in water

Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry is used to detect both the cations (C⁺) and the anions (A^–) of ionic liquids (CA). In this study, the ionic liquids are diluted with aqueous methanol before injection. In addition to the main peaks of the parent ions, fragmentation products are observed upon increasing the cone voltage, whereas aggregates of the parent ion with one or more ionic liquid molecules (e.g., C(CA)_n⁺, A(CA)_n^–) are observed upon decreasing the cone voltage. The ions of several ionic liquids in a mixture are also detected and the ratios of their concentrations estimated. A method is developed to determine quantitatively the concentration of an ionic liquid in solution by using the cation and anion of another ionic liquid as internal standards. By using this method, the solubilities in water at room temperature (22±1 °C) of three typical hydrophobic ionic liquids have been determined: 0.70±0.08 g L^–1 for methyltributylammonium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide (MeBu₃NNTf₂), 6.0±0.5 g L^–1 for butylmethylpyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide (BuMePyrNTf₂), and 18.6±0.7 g L^–1 for 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate (BMIPF₆).     

Comparison of Electrospray Ionization and Fast Atom Bombardment Mass Spectrometry for the Analysis of Saponins from Alfalfa,Clover, and Mungbeans

The determination of seven saponins in crude plant extracts by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) and fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry (FAB-MS) is described. Distinct protonated and natriated (Na-adduct) molecular ions in ESI-MS spectra readily provide molecular weight information, which can be further verified using clusters of molecular ions. Saponin mixtures can be analyzed by ESIMS on varying the potential difference between the capillary and skimmer in the ESI source to decompose impurities. ESI-MS uses less amount of sample than that required by FAB-MS. ESI-MS does not produce structural information, however. The FAB-MS spectra consist mainly of protonated and deprotonated molecular ions with limited structural information. (-)-FAB-MS is more suitable for analyzing saponin samples than the (+)-FAB-MS.     

Cadmium speciation in Arabidopsis thaliana as a strategy to study metal accumulation system in plants

The strategy to identify cadmium deactivation mechanism in Arabidopsis thaliana has been developed using selective and sensitive hyphenated techniques. Cadmium concentrations, in main parts of the plant, were determined by ICP-MS and total amount was found as 0.43-0.44 μg g⁻¹ in leaves and 3.3-3.4 μg g⁻¹ in roots. Speciation of the metal complexes in cells was investigated by SEC-ICP-MS in order to estimate the accumulation process. Phytochelatins, desglycyl-phytochelatins and phytochelatins homologues lacking the N-terminal γ-linked glutamic acid were extracted from plant and were identified by RPLC-ESI-MS. Two-dimensional chromatography allowed to link the metal complexes separated by SEC with isoforms of phytochelatins analyzed by high resolution RPLC and confirm their significant responsibility for metal accumulation. The potential of the cadmium complexes speciation indicates that obtained results could be reliable source of knowledge to confirm the information coming from the well-known genomic sequence of Arabidopsis and to estimate the role of γ-glutamyl transpeptidase in metabolism of glutathione.     

Organogold(III) metallacyclic chemistry. Part 4. Synthesis, characterisation, and biological activity of gold(III)-thiosalicylate and -salicylate complexes

The silver(I) oxide mediated reactions of the gold(III) dichloride complex [{C₆H₃(CH₂

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uCl₂] 2a with thiosalicylic or salicylic acid gives the respective complexes [{C₆H₃(CH₂

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)-2}] 3a (X=S) or 6b (X=O), containing chelating thiosalicylate or salicylate dianion ligands. X-ray studies show that for the thiosalicylate system, the thiosalicylate sulfur atom is trans to the N,N-dimethylamino group, whereas in the structure of the salicylate complex, it is the carboxylate group that is trans to NMe₂. Both complexes show puckered metallacycles in the solid state. Electrospray mass spectrometry (ESMS) shows strong [M+H]⁺ and [2M+H]⁺ ions for both the gold-thiosalicylate and -salicylate complexes, and these ions possess a high stability towards cone voltage-induced fragmentation. ESMS was also used to identify a minor impurity, the bis(cyclo-aurated) cationic complex [A

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Me₂)-2-(OMe)-5}2]⁺ in the starting dihalide complex 2a and in the product 3a. This complex can be formed by reaction of Me₄N[AuCl₄] with 2 equivalents of the organomercury precursor [Hg{C₆H₃(CH₂NMe₂)-2-(OMe)-5}Cl]. The biological (antitumour, antimicrobial and antiviral) activities are also reported, and these reveal the complexes have moderate to high anti-tumour, antibacterial and antifungal activity.     

双二氮杂萘酮类化合物的电喷雾质谱研究

含新型芳香杂环单元的缩聚高分子材料耐老化热稳定性好,具有独特的加工长度和弹性模量,在宇航、电子、机械、军事和复合材料等方面的应用已引起人们的广泛兴趣和关注。含双二氮杂萘酮单元的缩聚高分子材料就是其中一种,这些新型芳香杂环单元大多数熔点都较高,难于汽化,采用电子轰击质谱或快原子轰击质谱测定其相对分子质量时,通常得不到分子离子峰信号,给质谱表征和结构鉴定带来一定的困难。     

Reactivity of pyrrole pigments,XIX. On the structure of Cu(II) and Zn(II) chelates of dipyrrins in solution

Summary The Cu(II) and Zn(II) chelates of 1,2,3,7,9-pentamethyldipyrrin and 1,2,3,7,9-pentamethyl-8-sulfodipyrrin are studied. When metal acetates are used for the formation of the metal complexes, dipyrrinate metal acetates could be detected as precursors of thebis-dipyrrinates.

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Reaktivität von Pyrrolpigmenten, 19. Mitt. Über die Struktur von Cu(II)- und Zn(II)-Chelaten von Dipyrrinen in Lösung

Zusammenfassung Die Cu(II)- und Zn(II)-Chelate von 1,2,3,7,9-Pentamethyldipyrrin und 1,2,3,7,9-Pentadimethyl-8-sulfodipyrrin wurden untersucht. Bei Einsatz von Metalldiacetaten für die Komplexbildung wurden Dipyrrinmetallacetate als Vorläufer derbis-Dipyrrinate nachgewiesen.