Structural analysis of drug-DNA adducts by tandem mass spectrometry

The utility of electrospray ionisation (ESI) tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) for the characterisation of ligand-oligonucleotide adducts is demonstrated with adducts formed between the oligonucleotide 5'-CACGTG-3' and both a platinating agent, cis-diamminedichloroplatinum(II) (cisplatin), and an alkylating ligand, n-bromohexylphenanthridinium bromide (phenC6Br). We have demonstrated previously that negative ion MS/MS spectra of alkylated oligonucleotides show a highly specific fragmentation pathway that enables the site of binding of the ligand to be readily identified. In comparison, the positive ion ESI-MS/MS spectra reported here also show a single major fragmentation pathway, but the dominant ion is the protonated ligand-base adduct. MS/MS of this ion confirms the site on binding of the ligand to the guanine base. MS/MS spectra of cisplatin adducts show much less specific fragmentation than alkylated adducts, particularly in the negative ion mode. This suggests that the ESI-MS/MS spectra of ligand-DNA adducts are strongly influenced by the extent to which the ligand weakens the glycosidic bond in the residue to which it is bound. For platinating agents, which do not labilise the glycosidic bond, additional experiments involving MS/MS of source-generated product ions were required to enable isomeric adducts to be distinguished.     

Structural characterization of acetylpyridinium-ethyl pyruvate adducts by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

The reactions of ethyl pyruvate with acetic anhydride and pyridine were studied by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). Ethyl 2-acetoxy-2-pyridiniumpropionate (1) (m/z 238) resulting from the reaction of the acetylpyridinium cation with ethyl pyruvate, and the adduct of ethyl 2-acetoxyacrylate with a pyridinium cation (2), bound together by non-covalent interactions (m/z 238), were identified by ESI-MS for the first time. Structures 1 and 2 cannot be distinguished, probably because one may be converted into the other and vice versa.     

Detection and identification of carcinogen-peptide adducts by nanoelectrospray tandem mass spectrometry

Nanoelectrospray (nanoES) tandem mass spectrometry was used to examine covalently modified peptides in crude enzymatic digests of human serum albumin (HSA) that had been exposed to either benzo[a]pyrene diol epoxide (B[a]PDE, 1), chrysene diol epoxide (CDE, 2), 5-methylchrysene diol epoxide (5MeCDE, 3), or benzo[g]chrysene diol epoxide (B[g]CDE, 4). The low flow rates of nanoES (～20 nL/min) allowed several MS/MS experiments to be optimized and performed on a single sample with very little sample consumption (～30 min analysis time/µL sample). Initially, nanoES was compared with conventional LC/MS/MS analysis of carcinogen-peptide adducts. For example, nanoES analysis of an unseparated digest of B[a]PDE-treated serum albumin revealed the same peptides (RRHPY and RRHPY-FYAPE) that were previously shown, by LC/MS/MS, to be adducted with B[a]PDE. In addition, nanoES could detect unstable peptide adducts that might not otherwise have been directly observable. Finally, nanoES was shown to be an effective way to screen mixtures of modified and unmodified peptides for which no chromatographic information is available.     

Structural elucidation of isocyanate-peptide adducts using tandem mass spectrometry

Diisocyanates are highly reactive chemical compounds widely used in the manufacture of polyurethanes. Although diisocyanates have been identified as causative agents of allergic respiratory diseases, the specific mechanism by which these diseases occur is largely unknown. To better understand the chemical species produced when isocyanates are reacted with model peptides, tandem mass spectrometry was employed to unambiguously identify the binding site of four commercially-relevant isocyanates on model peptides. In each case, the isocyanates react preferentially with the N-terminus of the peptide. No evidence of side-chain/isocyanate adduct formation exclusive of the N-terminus was observed. However, significant intra-molecular diisocyanate crosslinking was observed between the N-terminal amine and a side-chain amine of arginine, when Arg was located within two residues of the N-terminus. Addition of multiple isocyanates to the peptide occurs via polymerization of the isocyanate at the N-terminus, rather than via addition of multiple isocyanate molecules to varied residues within the peptide. The direct observation of isocyanate binding to the N-terminus of peptides under these experimental conditions is in good agreement with previous studies on the relative reaction rate of isocyanate with amino acid functional groups.     

Analytical method for urinary metabolites as biomarkers for monitoring exposure to phthalates by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry

Phthalates, widely used as plasticizers, have been detected in indoor air, but there have been few reports on methods of analyzing urinary metabolites as biomarkers to monitor exposure to di‐n ‐pentyl phthalate or di‐n ‐hexyl phthalate. Presented here is a cost‐effective and sensitive analytical method for the determination of urinary metabolites of phthalates containing these two compounds. Nine urinary phthalate metabolites were enzymatically hydrolyzed and extracted with toluene: monomethyl phthalate, monoethyl phthalate, monoisobutyl phthalate, mono‐n‐ butyl phthalate, mono‐n‐ pentyl phthalate, mono‐n‐ hexyl phthalate, monocyclohexyl phthalate, monobenzyl phthalate and mono(2‐ethyl‐5‐carboxypentyl) phthalate. After transformation to their tert‐ butyldimethylsilyl derivatives, they were analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry in the electron impact ionization mode. The calibration curves for the metabolites were linear at urinary concentrations of up to 30 μg/L, showing that they could be determined accurately and precisely (detection limits 0.1–0.4 μg/L, quantification limits 0.3–1.3 μg/L). The urine samples collected could be stored for up to 1 month at −20°C. The proposed analytical method was used to examine urine samples from seven healthy volunteers. This method should be useful for monitoring phthalate exposure in the general population.     

Structural characterization of carcinogen-modified oligodeoxynucleotide adducts using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry

The aim of this study was to determine the chemical structure of in vitro 2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine (PhIP)-modified oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs) by exonuclease digestion and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry. A single-stranded 11-mer ODN, 5'-d(CCATCGCTACC), was reacted with N-acetoxy-PhIP, resulting in the formation of one major and eight minor PhIP-ODN adducts. A 10 min treatment of the major and one minor PhIP-ODN adduct with a 3'-exonuclease, bovine intestinal mucosa phosphodiesterase (BIMP), and a 5'-exonuclease, bovine spleen phosphodiesterase, results in inhibition of the primary exonuclease activity at deoxyguanosine (dG) producing 5'-d(CCATCG(PhIP)) and 5'-d(G(PhIP)CTACC) product ions, respectively. Post-source decay (PSD) of these enzymatic end products identifies dG as the sole modification site in two 11-mer ODN-PhIP adducts. PSD of the minor PhIP-ODN adduct digestion end product, 5'-d(CCATCG(PhIP)), also reveals that the PhIP adducted guanine moiety is in an oxidized form. Prolonged treatment of the PhIP-ODN adducts at 37 degrees C with BIMP induces a non-specific, or endonuclease, enzymatic activity culminating in the formation of deoxyguanosine 5'-monophosphate-PhIP (5'-dGMP-PhIP). The PSD fragmentation pattern of the 5'-dGMP-PhIP [M + H](+) ion of the major adduct confirms PhIP binds to the C-8 position of dG. For the minor adduct, PSD results suggest that PhIP binds to the C-8 position of an oxidized guanine, supporting the hypothesis that this adduct arises from oxidative degradation, resulting in a spirobisguanidino structure.     

Analysis of hemoglobin adducts of acrylamide and glycidamide by liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry, as exposure biomarkers in French population

The determination of biomarkers of acrylamide exposure in humans from general French population by measurement of hemoglobin adduct levels of acrylamide (AA) and glycidamide (GA) is presented. The analytical procedure included modified Edman degradation and LC-ESI-MS/MS analysis of the final derivatives using deuterated internal standards. Method performances were evaluated in terms of linearity, precision, accuracy, and sensitivity. The method was firstly assessed on rat blood samples and then applied to the study of background adducts levels of AA and GA in 68 human hemoglobin samples, showing mean levels of 33 and 23 pmol/g globin for AA and GA adducts, respectively.     

Structural analysis of naphthoquinone protein adducts with liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry and the scoring algorithm for spectral analysis (SALSA)

The relative reactivities of various naphthoquinone isomers (1,4-, 1,2- and 2-methyl-1,4-naphthoquinone) to two test proteins, apomyoglobin and human hemoglobin, were evaluated via liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC/ESI-MS). The structural characterization of the resulting adducts was also obtained by LC/ESI-MS analysis of the intact proteins. The reactive sites of apomyoglobin and human hemoglobin with 1,4-naphthoquinone and 1,2-naphthoquinone were also identified through characterization of adducted tryptic peptides by use of high-pressure liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization with tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC/ESI-MS/MS), TurboSEQUEST, and the scoring algorithm for spectral analysis (SALSA). Four adducted peptides, which were formed by nucleophilic addition of a lysine amino acid residue to 1,4-naphthoquinone, were also identified, as was an adducted peptide from incubation of 1,2-naphthoquinone with apomyoglobin. In the case of incubation of human hemoglobin with the two naphthoquinones, two adducted peptides were identified from the N-terminal valine modification of the alpha and beta chains of human hemoglobin. The adducted protein formation may imply that naphthalene produces its in vivo toxicity through 1,2- and 1,4-naphthoquinone metabolites reacting with biomolecular proteins.     

Electrospray tandem mass spectrometry in the rapid identification of alpha-chain haemoglobin variants

The potential use of electrospray tandem mass spectrometry in the rapid characterisation of haemoglobin variants found in the Swedish population has been assessed. Analysis times of the order of 5 -10 min were routinely achieved, and identification of variants using mass spectrometry as the sole analytical technique was possible. However, additional information, readily available from isoelectric focusing experiments, made identification simpler and more secure. In the present communication we report on the identification of the alpha-chain variants, Hb Russ, Hb Le Lamentin and Hb Q-Iran. The identifications were confirmed by the use of nucleotide sequencing techniques.     

Structural analysis of diacyl peroxides by electrospray tandem mass spectrometry with ammonium acetate: bond homolysis of peroxide-ammonium and peroxide-proton adducts

Organic peroxides have significant implications in organic chemistry and biological processes. The weak O-O bond makes them extremely difficult to characterize by conventional analytical methods. Diacyl peroxides are one of the major radical sources in polymerization and organic synthesis. It is well known that diacyl peroxides are thermal labile and thus are not amenable to study by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Electrospray tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MS/MS) has been applied to the structural analysis of diacyl peroxides by formation of ammonium adducts. Collision induced dissociation (CID) studies of the ammonium adducts of the peroxide [M + NH(4)](+) give collision energy dependent fragments. For most diacyl peroxides, homolysis of the peroxy bond predominates the fragmentation pathways of the peroxide-ammonium adducts. Deuterated substrates have been employed to provide evidence for typical fragmentation pathways. The CID studies were also used to locate the O-18 in some O-18 specifically labeled diacyl peroxides. For branched alkyl or alkoxy substrates, McLafferty rearrangement and decarboxylation become a major pathway. By comparison with some anhydride analogues, ESI-MS/MS can also be used to study this class of compounds.     

A new method for the analysis of styrene mercapturic acids by liquid chromatography/electrospray tandem mass spectrometry

A new method based on liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry has been developed for the direct determination of specific urinary mercapturic acids arising from the conjugation of (R)-and (S)-enantiomers of styrene 7,8-oxide with glutathione (GSH), i.e. (R,R)- and (S,R)-N-acetyl-S-(1-phenyl-2-hydroxyethyl)cysteine (R,R-M1 and S,R-M1) and (R,R)- and (S,R)-N-acetyl-S-(2-phenyl-2-hydroxyethyl)-cysteine (R,R-M2 and S,R-M2). The four diastereoisomers were separated on a C18-DB (7.5 cm, 3 microm) column using variable proportions of 20 mM aqueous ammonium formate buffer and methanol at a flow-rate of 0.5 mL/min. The analytes were ionized by electrospray, in negative-ion mode. Operating in selected-reaction monitoring mode, linearity of the MS response versus analyte concentration was established over 4 orders of magnitude, the detection limits being 0.7-1.0 microg/L for all the mercapturates. Precision of the method determined at 50 microg/L (n = 12), expressed as relative standard deviation, was respectively 3.1, 4.8 and 6.9% within the run, intra-day and inter-day. The corresponding figures at 1.0 mg/L (n = 12) were respectively 2.0, 3.6 and 5.5%. The method was applied to the quantitative analysis of conjugated metabolites in urine samples from workers occupationally exposed to styrene. The diastereoisomers R,R-M1 and S,R-M2 accounted respectively for 50 and 40% of total mercapturates, whereas the proportion of R,R-M2 was 7% and only minor amounts of S,R-M1 were detectable. Styrene mercapturates represented a minor fraction of total styrene metabolites, less than 1% on average. The ratio mercapturates/main metabolites (mandelic + phenylglyoxylic acid) showed a bimodal distribution, the medians of the two subgroups being 0.2 and 1%, respectively. Such subgroups are probably characterized by the genetic polymorphisms of the drug-metabolizing enzymes to be identified.     

Structural analysis of lignin in chestnut wood by pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry

The goal of the study was to determine the percentage of lignin in chestnut wood and to characterize structurally this polymer by pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) according to a possible influence on ring shake defect. The sampling was performed in different sites of Lazio Region in Italy. Wood disks from trees with ring shake defect and without ring shake defect were selected and little amount of heartwood (1-2 g) sampled between 6th and 10th and between 11th and 15th annual growth ring were analyzed. The study allowed quantifying lignin content, which is in average 26% and syringyl/guaiacyl (S/G) ratio, which present an average value of 2.43. Belong the pyrolysis products of wood, the trees characterized by ring shake show a higher concentration of the phenol homosyringaldehyde respect to the healthy trees. There is not any evident difference in the products composition of pyrolysis in respect to trees’ age, especially the critical period of 12-14 years in which ring shake generally becomes more evident. The site of wood provenance is the higher factor of variability in the structure of lignin for many phenols.     

A novel approach for identification and measurement of hemoglobin adducts with 1,2,3,4-diepoxybutane by liquid chromatography/electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation tandem mass spectrometry

The structural characterisation of the adducts formed by in vitro interaction of hemoglobin (Hb) with 1,2,3,4-diepoxybutane (DEB), the most reactive 1,3-butadiene (BD) metabolite, was obtained by liquid chromatography/electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry (LC/ES-MS) analysis of modified tryptic peptides of human hemoglobin chains. The reactive sites of human hemoglobin towards DEB and its hydroxylated derivatives (trihydroxybutyl (THB)-derivatives) were identified through the characterisation of alkylated tryptic peptides by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation tandem mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS/MS). Based on this characterisation, a procedure was set up to measure the Hb-adducts of THB-derivatives by isotope dilution mass spectrometry with the use of a deuterated peptide standard. The results obtained here could permit optimisation of molecular dosimetry of BD-adducts, and extension of the analysis to the biological monitoring of occupational exposure to butadiene.     

Separation and identification of positively charged and neutral nucleoside adducts by capillary electrochromatography-microelectrospray mass spectrometry

Capillary electrochromatography (CEC) is shown to be capable of separating mixtures containing both positively charged and neutral styrene oxide–adenosine adducts. In a study of the mechanism of deamination of positively charged 1-(2-hydroxy-1-phenylethyl) adenosine using ¹⁸O-labeled water, possible contamination of the chromatographically purified deamination product, 1-(2-hydroxy-1-phenylethyl) inosine, with the positively charged 1-(2-hydroxy-1-phenylethyl) adenosine was observed. Because the deamination product and the presumed contamination have the same molecular weights and similar structures, CEC-microelectrospray mass spectrometry (CEC-μESI/MS) was used to confirm the presence and identity of the suspected impurity. A trace amount of the positively charged 1-(2-hydroxy-1-phenylethyl) adenosine, which could not be observed by either HPLC-UV or CEC-UV, was detected by CEC-μESI/MS. This discriminatory ability of CEC-μESI/MS is attributed to the fact that positive ion mode ESI-MS is a more sensitive detector for a positively charged compound than a UV detector, and that the combination of electroosmotic and electrophoretic flows and hydrophobic interactions with the stationary phase contributes to the separation of the positively charged compound. As a result, the positively charged compound was observed to elute much earlier and with much sharper peaks than the neutral compounds for which electroosmotic flow is the only “pumping” force for the solvent.     

Structural identification of alkene isomers by photodissociation–photoionization mass spectrometry

Photodissociation-photoionization, mass spectrometry (PDPI/MS) is used to probe the neutral dissociation chemistry of branched alkenes and dienes. Molecules are photodissociated with an ultraviolet laser and the resulting neutral fragments are subsequently photoionized with coherent vacuum ultraviolet radiation. The neutral fragmen tation observed is useful for characterizing compounds which isomerize prior to ionic fragmentation. Unimolecular photodissociation of dienes and branched alkenes is dominated by cleavage of the β C? C bond. In a few cases, α-cleavage is also observed. When two isomers produce isomass primary products, secondary fragmentation can be used to distinguish the structures. The primary and secondary product distributions are predictable and usually occur without iomerization. As a result, PDPI/MS can be used to determine the sites of branching and unsaturation in small (C₅–C₈) aliphatic compounds.     

Improvements in protein identification confidence and proteome coverage for human liver proteome study by coupling a parallel mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry analysis with multi-dimensional chromatography separation

Recently, matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) technique has been shown to be complementary to electrospray ionization (ESI) with respect to the population of peptides and proteins that can be detected. In this study, we tried to hyphenate MALDI-TOF-TOF-MS and ESI-QUADRUPOLE-TOF-MS with a single 2D liquid chromatography for complicated protein sample analysis. The effluents of RPLC were split into two parts for the parallel MS/MS detection. After optimizing the operation conditions in LC separation and MS identification, a total of 1149 proteins were identified from the global lysate of normal human liver (NHL) tissue. Compared to the single MS/MS detection, the combined analysis increased the number of proteins identified (more than 25%) and enhanced the protein identification confidence. Proteins identified were categorized and analyzed based upon their cellular location, biological process and molecular function. The identification results demonstrated the application potential of a parallel MS/MS analysis coupled with multi-dimensional LC separation for complicated protein sample identification, especially for proteome analysis, such as human tissues or cells extracts.