Detection of small molecule concentration gradients in ocular tissues and humours

The eye is an elegant organ consisting of a number of tissues and fluids with specialised functions that together allow it to effectively transmit and transduce light input to the brain for visual perception. One key determinant of this integrated function is the spatial relationship of ocular tissues. Biomolecular distributions within the main ocular tissues cornea, lens, and retina have been studied extensively in isolation, yet the potential for metabolic communication between ocular tissues via the ocular humours has been difficult to visualise. To address this limitation, the current study presents a method to map spatial distributions of metabolites and small molecules in whole eyes, including ocular humours. Using a tape‐transfer system and freeze‐drying, the spatial distribution of ocular small molecules was investigated in mouse, rat, fish (black bream), and rabbit eyes using negative ion mode MALDI imaging mass spectrometry. Full‐scan imaging was used for discovery experiments, while MS/MS imaging for identification and localisation was also demonstrated. In all eyes, metabolites such as glutathione and phospholipids were localised in the main ocular tissues. In addition, in rodent eyes, major metabolites were distributed relatively uniformly in ocular humours. In contrast, both uniform and spatially defined ocular metabolite distributions were observed in the black bream eye. Tissue and ocular humour distributions were reproducible, as demonstrated by the three‐dimensional analysis of a mouse eye, and able to be captured with high spatial resolution analysis. The presented method could be used to further investigate the role of inter‐tissue metabolism in ocular health, and to support the development of therapeutics to treat major ocular diseases.     

Efficient synthesis of taurine and structurally diverse substituted taurines from aziridines

Taurine and substituted taurines were synthesized efficiently from aziridines via ring-opening reaction with thioacetic acid, oxidation with performic acid, and hydrolysis in hydrochloric acid. The current method shows more benefit in purification and efficiency in the preparation of taurine and structurally diverse 2-substituted, 2,2-disubstituted, and 1,2-, 2,2-, and 2,N-alkylene taurines.     

MALDI tissue profiling of integral membrane proteins from ocular tissues

MALDI tissue profiling and imaging have become valuable tools for rapid, direct analysis of tissues to investigate spatial distributions of proteins, potentially leading to an enhanced understanding of the molecular basis of disease. Sample preparation methods developed to date for these techniques produce protein expression profiles from predominantly hydrophilic, soluble proteins. The ability to obtain information about the spatial distribution of integral membrane proteins is critical to more fully understand their role in physiological processes, including transport, adhesion, and signaling. In this article, a sample preparation method for direct tissue profiling of integral membrane proteins is presented. Spatially resolved profiles for the abundant lens membrane proteins aquaporin 0 (AQP0) and MP20, and the retinal membrane protein opsin, were obtained using this method. MALDI tissue profiling results were validated by analysis of dissected tissue prepared by traditional membrane protein processing methods. Furthermore, direct tissue profiling of lens membrane proteins revealed age related post-translational modifications, as well as a novel modification that had not been detected using conventional tissue homogenization methods.     

Simultaneous determination of tiopronin and its primary metabolite in plasma and ocular tissues by HPLC

Tiopronin, formally 2‐mercaptopropionylglycine (MPG), is currently prescribed to treat cystinuria and rheumatoid arthritis, and its antioxidant properties have led to its investigation as a treatment for cataracts, a condition in which oxidative stress is strongly implicated. To study its accumulation in the eye, a reliable, isocratic HPLC method was developed for the determination of MPG and its primary metabolite 2‐mercaptopropionic acid (MPA) in plasma and relevant ocular tissues. This method utilizes pre‐column derivatization and fluorescence detection. The 3.5 min separation enables high‐throughput analysis, and validation experiments demonstrated that this method is suitable for evaluating ocular accumulation of MPG and MPA at concentrations as low as 66 and 33 nm , respectively. Excellent linearity was achieved over the working concentration range with R² > 0.997. Extraction recovery was reproducible within each matrix and exceeded 97%. Accuracy was within 13.3% relative error, and intra‐ and inter‐day precisions were within 6% CV and 7% CV, respectively. Sample stability was demonstrated under various storage conditions, and the use of an internal standard conferred exceptional ruggedness. This method has been successfully applied for the determination of MPG and MPA in plasma, cornea, lens and retina following intraperitoneal administration of the drug in Wistar rats.     

Hydrophobicity of peritoneal tissues in the rat

In this study, an inventory of the hydrophobicity of peritoneal tissues in the living rat was made. Peritoneal tissues were divided into mesentery (i.e., omentum) and parietal and visceral peritoneum and their hydrophobicity was determined by the sessile drop method. All peritoneal tissues were hydrophilic with water contact angles varying from 0 degrees to 61 degrees. Mesentery and visceral peritoneum covering the intestines were significantly more hydrophilic than parietal and other visceral peritoneal tissues. In general, visceral peritoneum was the most hydrophobic tissue, and visceral peritoneum covering the kidneys (61 degrees) and the stomach (54 degrees) was less hydrophilic than that covering the rest of the organs, i.e., spleen (49 degrees), liver (45 degrees), and bladder (41 degrees). In summary, peritoneal tissues involved in adsorptive and exchange functions and requiring lubrication are more hydrophilic than tissues with more important and protective functions.     

Redefining differential roles of MAO-A in dopamine degradation and MAO-B in tonic GABA synthesis

Monoamine oxidase (MAO) is believed to mediate the degradation of monoamine neurotransmitters, including dopamine, in the brain. Between the two types of MAO, MAO-B has been believed to be involved in dopamine degradation, which supports the idea that the therapeutic efficacy of MAO-B inhibitors in Parkinson’s disease can be attributed to an increase in extracellular dopamine concentration. However, this belief has been controversial. Here, by utilizing in vivo phasic and basal electrochemical monitoring of extracellular dopamine with fast-scan cyclic voltammetry and multiple-cyclic square wave voltammetry and ex vivo fluorescence imaging of dopamine with GRAB_DA2m, we demonstrate that MAO-A, but not MAO-B, mainly contributes to striatal dopamine degradation. In contrast, our whole-cell patch-clamp results demonstrated that MAO-B, but not MAO-A, was responsible for astrocytic GABA-mediated tonic inhibitory currents in the rat striatum. We conclude that, in contrast to the traditional belief, MAO-A and MAO-B have profoundly different roles: MAO-A regulates dopamine levels, whereas MAO-B controls tonic GABA levels.Subject terms: Neurotransmitters, Biosensors, Astrocyte, Inhibition, Transporters in the nervous system     

Determination of dehydrodiisoeugenol in rat tissues using HPLC method

Dehydrodiisoeugenol (DDIE) is a bioactive neolignan from the seeds of Myristica fragrans Houtt., which exhibits good anti-inflammatory activity. A rapid and simple high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method has been developed for the determination of DDIE in rat tissues after intravenous administration. The tissue samples were processed by liquid-liquid extraction. The analyses were successfully carried out on a Diamonsiltrade mark ODS C18 column (250 x 4.6 mm i.d., 5 microm) equipped with a C18 guard column (8 x 4.6 mm i.d., 5 microm). The mobile phase was the system of methanol-water (4:1, v/v). The UV detection was set at 270 nm. The calibration curves were linear from 0.4 to 200.0 microg/g with the correlation coefficients (r(2)) greater than 0.998. The intra- and inter-day precisions in quality control samples were less than 10% and the accuracies were in the range 85.4-110.3%. The average recoveries from all the tissues were between 84.4 and 106.0%. This assay method has been successfully used to study the tissues distribution of DDIE in rats after intravenous administration. The result suggests that DDIE is distributed to rat tissues rapidly with possibly greater initial concentrations in liver and brain than in other tissues.     

Determination of danshensu in rat plasma and tissues by high-performance liquid chromatography

A systematic study on pharmacokinetics and tissue distribution of danshensu (one of the major active components from Salvia miltiorrhizae) is conducted using a rapid and sensitive high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method. Before HPLC analysis, biological samples are pretreated with a liquid-liquid extraction. Separation of danshensu and internal standard is achieved on an Agilent Zorbax C18 column with a mobile phase made up of acetonitrile and 0.05% trifluoracetic acid at a flow rate of 0.8 mL/min. The calibration curves in plasma and tissues are linear in the given concentration ranges, with r2 no less than 0.99. The intra-day and inter-day relative standard deviations in the measurement of quality control samples are less than 15%, and the accuracies are in the range of 86-115%. The recoveries of danshensu in plasma and tissues are among 80% to 118%. Meanwhile, the multi-peaks in pharmacokinetic profiles are observed. The method is successfully applied to the pharmacokinetics and tissue distribution study of danshensu after a single oral administration of 50.0 mg/kg sodium danshensu to rats.     

雄黄对大鼠脑组织能量代谢的影响

将32只Wistar大鼠随机分为对照组(口服0.5%羧甲基纤维素钠溶液)以及低剂量(0.3g/kg)、中剂量(0.9g/kg)和高剂量(2.7g/kg)雄黄混悬液处理组,通过6周连续灌胃给服雄黄混悬液,采用高效液相色谱法测定大鼠脑组织中三磷酸腺甙(ATP)的含量,研究了雄黄对大鼠脑组织能量代谢的影响.结果表明,与对照组比较,雄黄染毒组大鼠脑组织中ATP含量均呈下降趋势(P<0.05),不同剂量组间未表现明显差异(P>0.05).这表明雄黄对大鼠脑组织能量代谢具有一定的抑制作用.     

Chronological protein synthesis in regenerating rat liver

Liver regeneration has been studied for decades; however, its regulation remains unclear. In this study, we report a dynamic tracing of protein synthesis in rat regenerating liver with a new proteomic technique, ³⁵S in vivo labeling analysis for dynamic proteomics (SiLAD). Conventional proteomic techniques typically measure protein alteration in accumulated amounts. The SiLAD technique specifically detects protein synthesis velocity instead of accumulated amounts of protein through ³⁵S pulse labeling of newly synthesized proteins, providing a direct way for analyzing protein synthesis variations. Consequently, protein synthesis within short as 30 min was visualized and protein regulations in the first 8 h of regenerating liver were dynamically traced. Further, the 3.5–5 h post partial hepatectomy (PHx) was shown to be an important regulatory turning point by acute regulation of many proteins in the initiation of liver regeneration.     

Indirect determination of tungstate in rat tissues by atomic absorption spectrometry

An indirect method is described for the determination of tungsten as tungstate in tissue samples by atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS). Tungstate forms a stable ion-association complex [Fe(dipy)3]2+WO4(2-) (dipy = 2,2'-dipyridyl) in acidic solution, which can be extracted into chloroform with an efficiency of higher than 98%. The extract can be analysed for iron (and hence indirectly for WO4(2-] by flame AAS after stripping back into 60% perchloric acid. The calibration graph is linear up to 19 p.p.m. of WO4(2-) and the limit of detection is 0.17 p.p.m. Many foreign ions do not interfere and the method has been applied successfully to the determination of tungstate in rattus norvegicus tissue samples.     

Dendritic polyglycerol as a high-loading support for parallel multistep synthesis of GABA lactam analogues

A general route to 4-substituted azolidin-2-ones (GABA lactam analogues) on a soluble high-loading polyglycerol support has been developed and optimized. These biologically interesting compounds (anticonvulsive drugs) can be synthesized in three steps commencing from a polyglycerol supported (diethylphosphono)acetic acid and a carbonyl compound. The key features of this parallel approach are the cyclative cleavage and simple separation techniques (i.e., dialysis).