Simultaneous detection of cholyl adenylate and coenzyme A thioester utilizing liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization mass spectrometry.

It has been proposed that acyl adenylate is first formed during activation of the carboxy group into the acyl CoA thioester, an intermediate in the formation of amino acid conjugates. Acyl CoA synthetases may be responsible for this acyl adenylate formation. Recently, we hypothesized the preferential formation of cholic acid adenylate, a major bile acid, preceding production of the corresponding CoA thioester in incubations with rat liver microsomal fractions. To verify this biosynthetic mechanism, monitoring of the incubation mixture of acyl adenylate together with both substrate and acyl CoA thioester is needed. We have developed a detection method for the simultaneous detection of these cholic acid derivatives utilizing liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. The CoA thioester of cholic acid forms a chelation complex with the divalent cations remaining on the silica gel packed into the analytical column. Both the addition of a chelating agent, such as EDTA, to the mobile phase and an adjustment of the mobile phase pH to a weak alkaline effectively removed such chelate formation, producing a sharp CoA thioester peak. For a simultaneous mass spectrometric analysis of cholic acid, the corresponding adenylate and CoA thioester, the combined use of a 300 A particle diameter ODS column and 20 mM ammonium acetate buffer (pH 9.0)/2-propanol/acetonitrile as the mobile phase have been proved to be preferable. To avoid any degradation of the chemically unstable adenylate produced in the incubation, we employed a direct injection of the sample onto a preconcentration column. The obtained results indicated a high sensitivity of this method.     

新型饱和脂肪酸胆酸缀合物的合成及抗胆结石活性研究

胆结石是常见多发病, 但临床缺乏有效的治疗药物. 饱和脂肪酸与胆酸的缀合物能有效预防胆固醇结晶、溶解体内胆固醇结石. 以胆酸或熊去氧胆酸24位羧基为连接位点, 以氨基酸为连接子, 通过酰胺键将载体与具有溶石活性的饱和脂肪酸偶联, 设计合成了一系列新型脂肪酸胆酸缀合物, 其结构经元素分析, IR, 1H NMR和MS光谱分析确证. 通过测定化合物对模型胆汁溶液胆固醇结晶及模型小鼠胆结石的溶解活性, 研究了其体内外溶石活性.     

Characterization of a cross-linked DNA-Endonuclease VIII repair complex by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

Electrospray mass spectrometry techniques were used to characterize components of the active site in Endonuclease VIII by identifying the amino acid sequence and the binding site for a tryptic peptide derived from Endo VIII in a cross-linked DNA-peptide complex. Endo VIII, a DNA repair enzyme with both glycosylase and lyase activities, was covalently bound to a thymidine glycol-containing oligodeoxynucleotide duplex by converting a transient Schiff base formed during the course of the glycosylase activity to a stable covalent bond by chemical reduction with sodium borohydride. After tryptic digestion of the initial product, the identification of the cross-linked peptide was deduced initially from the molecular mass of the tryptic product obtained by negative ion electrospray mass analysis. Nanospray tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) analysis of the tryptic product corroborated the molecular mass of the peptide fragment and verified the point of attachment to the oligomer, but failed to produce sufficient fragmentation to sequence the peptide completely. Direct evidence for the amino acid sequence of the peptide was obtained after enzymatic digestion of the DNA portion of the cross-linked DNA-peptide product and analysis by negative ion nanospray MS/MS. Examination of the ions from collision induced fragmentation disclosed that this substance was the N-terminal tryptic fragment of Endo VIII cross-linked to a portion of the oligomer, and that the N-terminal proline from Endo VIII was covalently bound to the residual deoxyribose moiety at the original location of the thymine glycol in the oligomer.     

Enzymatic fluorimetric determination of cholic acid and chenodeoxycholic acid in aqueous solutions and blood serum using a differential kinetic method

An enzymatic fluorimetric method is described for the determination of chenodeoxycholic acid and its conjugates and of cholic acid and its conjugates in aqueous solutions and serum. The method is based on the oxidation of 7 α-hydroxy bile acids by β-NAD⁺ in the presence of 7 α-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase; the NADH produced is monitored fluorimetrically. Chenodeoxycholic acid is determined in the presence of cholic acid by a differential kinetic procedure; the sum of the two acids (primary bile acids) is determined by an equilibrium procedure, and cholic acid is calculated by difference. The r.s.d. was ca. 3% and 10% for aqueous solutions and sera, respectively. Recoveries of chenodeoxycholic acid, cholic acid and primary bile acids added to serum samples averaged 100.5, 105.1, and 102.9%, respectively. Ten samples can be analyzed per working day.     

Characterization of non-enzymatic acylation of amino or thiol groups of bionucleophiles by the acyl-adenylate or acyl-CoA thioester of cholic acid

Acyl-adenylates and acyl-CoA thioesters of bile acids (BAs) are highly electrophilic acyl-linked metabolites which can undergo transacylation reactions with amino and thiol groups of nucleophilic groups on acceptor molecules such as amino acids, peptides, and proteins. Here, non-enzymatic acylation at pH 7.4 of glycine, taurine, glutathione (GSH), and N-acetylcysteine (NAC) by cholyl-adenylate (CA-AMP) was compared with that mediated by cholyl-CoA thioester (CA-CoA) using a 1:1 mixture of stable isotopically labeled CA-AMP and unlabeled CA-CoA. The transacylation products of these substrates were analyzed by liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization linear ion-trap mass spectrometry in negative-ion detection mode. CA-AMP was more reactive than CA-CoA with the amino group of glycine or taurine than with the thiol group of GSH or NAC. In contrast, CA-CoA was more reactive than CA-AMP with the thiol group of GSH or NAC and was far less reactive with the amino group of glycine or taurine. These differences in the reactivity of CA-AMP as compared with that of CA-CoA towards amino and thiol groups may be attributed to the electrophilicity of the carbonyl carbon of these acyl-linked cholic acid metabolites and the nucleophilicity of the amino and thiol group in the bionucleophiles that were studied.     

Radical induced fragmentation of amino acid esters using triphenylcorrole(CuIII) complexes

A triphenylcorrole(CuIII) complex is covalently bound to amino acid esters at the nitrogen atom. As a result radical anions are generated, inducing the occurrence of side-chain reactions under CID conditions. Almost all of the amino acid esters that were studied show abundant ions that correspond to fragmentation at the alpha carbon either with or without the loss of the alkoxy ester moiety. Distinctive CID spectra were also recorded for leucine and isoleucine complexes. Initial results with short peptides are also shown.     

Identifying sites of protein modification by using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time-of-flight mass spectrometry and on-line membrane preconcentration-capillary electrophoresis-tandem mass spectrometry

A strategy for rapidly identifying the number and sites of chemical or posttranslational modification of proteins is described. The use of matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time-of-flight-mass spectrometry to determine the molecular weight of the adducted protein as well as map the proteolytic digest of peptides offers a rapid method to screen for the possible site of adduction. To unequivocally determine the amino acid sequence of the peptide bearing the adduct as well as structurally characteize the covalent modification, the peptide mixture is subjected to membrane preconcentration-capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry and tandem mass spectrometry (mPC-CE-MS/MS). The high resolving separation capability of capillary electrophoresis (CE) afford a chromatograhic step that lends itself to separation of complex mixtures of peptides with minimal sample loss. The membrane preconcentration-CE cartridge allows sample loading volumes 10,000-fold greater than conventional CE. In this work the binding site of the fluorescent label acrylodan to the intestinal fatty binding protein is characterized and shown to be covalently bound at lysine-27, by using mPC-CE-MS/MS.     

Bioassay of bile acids using an enzyme-linked DNA aptamer

A new analytical method for the detection of bile acids has been developed by adopting an alkaline phosphatase-linked DNA oligomer that binds to bile acids. A 5'-biotin-labeled DNA oligomer with a 40-nucleotide length that is defined by the in vitro selection method was connected with alkaline phosphatase through an avidin-biotin linkage and applied to an enzyme immunoassay format. Sample solutions were incubated with small aliquots for a cholic acid-immobilized agarose matrix, on which the alkaline phosphatase-linked DNA oligomer had been bound prior to carrying out the assay. The amount of the alkaline phosphatase-linked DNA oligomer dissociated from the cholic acid-immobilized agarose matrix, which was detected using a fluorogenic substrate for alkaline phosphatase, indicated the amount of bile acids in the samples. The results suggest that the DNA aptamer directly linked with the reporter enzyme is applicable as a detector ligand for the immunoassay format. A linear calibration range was obtained for cholic acid between 0.1 to 5 mmol l-1 with a limit of detection of 10 mumol l-1. The %RSD was 7 at 5 mmol l-1 of cholic acid.     

Synthesis of both ionic species of ammonium dithiocarbamate derived cholic acid moieties

The reaction of 3-aminopropylamide of cholic acid with CS? produced a bile acid derivative of dithiocarbamic acid which further formed an ammonium salt with another molecule of 3-aminopropylamide of cholic acid. The cationic 3-ammonium propylamide of cholic acid did not react further with CS? and the formed salt was stable in the reaction mixture, even when excess CS? was used. When the reaction was carried out in the presence of aqueous sodium hydroxide, only the bile acid derivative of sodium dithiocarbamate was formed. The dithiocarbamate derivatives were characterized by 1H- and 13C-NMR spectroscopy and ESI-TOF mass spectrometry.     

Differentiation of various traditional Chinese medicines derived from animal bile and gallstone: simultaneous determination of bile acids by liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry

Animal biles and gallstones are popularly used in traditional Chinese medicines, and bile acids are their major bioactive constituents. Some of these medicines, like cow-bezoar, are very expensive, and may be adulterated or even replaced by less expensive but similar species. Due to poor ultraviolet absorbance and structural similarity of bile acids, effective technology for species differentiation and quality control of bile-based Chinese medicines is still lacking. In this study, a rapid and reliable method was established for the simultaneous qualitative and quantitative analysis of 18 bile acids, including 6 free steroids (cholic acid, chenodeoxycholic acid, deoxycholic acid, lithocholic acid, hyodeoxycholic acid, and ursodeoxycholic acid) and their corresponding glycine conjugates and taurine conjugates, by using liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS). This method was used to analyze six bile-based Chinese medicines: bear bile, cattle bile, pig bile, snake bile, cow-bezoar, and artificial cow-bezoar. Samples were separated on an Atlantis dC₁₈ column and were eluted with methanol–acetonitrile–water containing ammonium acetate. The mass spectrometer was monitored in the negative electrospray ionization mode. Total ion currents of the samples were compared for species differentiation, and the contents of bile acids were determined by monitoring specific ion pairs in a selected reaction monitoring program. All 18 bile acids showed good linearity (r² > 0.993) in a wide dynamic range of up to 2000-fold, using dehydrocholic acid as the internal standard. Different animal biles could be explicitly distinguished by their major characteristic bile acids: tauroursodeoxycholic acid and taurochenodeoxycholic acid for bear bile, glycocholic acid, cholic acid and taurocholic acid for cattle bile, glycohyodeoxycholic acid and glycochenodeoxycholic acid for pig bile, and taurocholic acid for snake bile. Furthermore, cattle bile, cow-bezoar, and artificial cow-bezoar could be differentiated by the existence of hyodeoxycholic acid and the ratio of cholic acid to deoxycholic acid. This study provided bile acid profiles of bile-based Chinese medicines for the first time, which could be used for their quality control.     

Measurement of bile acid CoA esters by high-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionisation tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-MS/MS)

The novel and rapid assay presented here combines high-performance liquid chromatography and electrospray ionisation tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-MS/MS) to directly measure and quantify the CoA esters of 3alpha,7alpha,12alpha-trihydroxy- and 3alpha,7alpha-dihydroxy-5beta-cholestan-26-oic acid (THCA and DHCA). The latter are converted inside peroxisomes to the primary bile acids, cholic and chenodeoxycholic acids, respectively. Prior to MS/MS, esters were separated by reversed-phase HPLC on a C(18) column using an isocratic mobile phase (acetonitrile/water/2-propanol) and subsequently detected by multiple reaction monitoring. For quantification, the CoA ester of deuterium-labelled 3alpha,7alpha,12alpha-trihydroxy-5beta-cholan-24-oic acid (d(4)-CA) was used as internal standard. To complete an assay took less than 8 min.To verify the validity of the assay, the effect of peroxisomal proteins on the efficacy of extraction of the CoA esters was tested. To this end, variable amounts of the CoA esters were spiked with a fixed amount of either intact peroxisomes or peroxisomal matrix proteins and then extracted using a solid-phase extraction system. The CoA esters could be reproducibly recovered in the range of 0.1-4 micromol l(-1) (linear correlation coefficient R(2) > 0.99), with a detection limit of 0.1 micromol l(-1).In summary, electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry combined with HPLC as described here proved to be a rapid and versatile technique for the determination of bile acid CoA esters in a mixture with peroxisomal proteins. This suggests this technique to become a valuable tool in studies dealing with the multi-step biosynthesis of bile acids and its disturbances in disorders like the Zellweger syndrome.     

Modification of citrulline residues with 2,3-butanedione facilitates their detection by liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry

Citrullination is a post-translational modification (PTM) that results from the deimination of the amino acid arginine into citrulline by Peptidyl Arginine Deiminase enzymes and occurs in a wide range of proteins in health and disease. This modification causes a 1 Da mass shift, which can be used to identify citrullination sites in proteins by the use of mass spectrometry. However, other PTMs, such as deamidation from asparagine to aspartic acid or from glutamine to glutamic acid, can also cause a 1 Da mass shift, making correct interpretation of the data more difficult. We developed a chemical tagging strategy which, combined with an open source search application, allowed us to selectively pinpoint citrullinated peptides in a complex mixture after liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) analysis. After incubation of a peptide mixture with 2,3 butanedione, citrulline residues were covalently modified which resulted in a 50 Da shift in singly charged mass. By comparison of the peptide mass fingerprint from a modified and an unmodified version of the same sample, our in-house search application was able to identify the citrullinated peptides in the mixture. This strategy was optimized on synthetic peptides and validated on a digest of in vitro citrullinated fibrinogen, where different proteolytic enzymes were used to augment the protein coverage. This new method results in easy detection of citrullinated residues, without the need for complex mass spectrometry equipment.     

Identification of degradation products of aspartyl tripeptides by capillary electrophoresis-tandem mass spectrometry

Capillary electrophoresis-electrospray tandem mass spectrometry (CE-MS/MS) has been used to identify degradation products of the aspartyl tripeptides Phe-Asp-GlyNH(2) and Gly-Asp-PheNH(2) following incubation of the peptides in acidic and alkaline solution. At pH 2, the dominant decomposition products resulted from cleavage of the peptide backbone amide bonds to yield the respective dipeptides and amino acids. In addition, the cyclic aspartyl succinimide intermediate was identified by its [M+H](+) at m/z = 319 and the MS/MS spectrum exhibiting a simple fragmentation pattern with the [C(8)H(10)N](+)-ion as the principal daughter ion (a(1) of Phe-Asp-GlyNH(2)). Deamidation of the C-terminal amide as well as isomerization and enantiomerization of the Asp residue occurred upon incubation at pH 10. alpha-Asp and the isomeric beta-Asp and most of the diastereomeric forms (corresponding to D/L-Asp) could be separated by CE. All isomers could be identified based on their MS/MS spectra. Peptides with the amino acid sequence Phe-Asp-Gly containing the regular alpha-Asp bond displayed a highly intense b(2) fragment ion and a low abundant y(2) ion. In contrast, the y(2) and a(1) fragment were high abundant daughter ions in the mass spectra of beta-Asp peptides while the b(2) ion exhibited a lower abundance. Differences in the MS/MS spectra of the isomers of the peptides with the sequence Gly-Asp-Phe were obvious but less pronounced. In conclusion, CE-MS/MS proved to be a useful tool to study the decomposition and enantiomerization of peptides including the isomerization of Asp residues, due to the combination of efficient separation of isomers by CE and their identification by MS/MS.     

Chemical cross‐linking with NHS esters: a systematic study on amino acid reactivities

Structure elucidation of tertiary or quaternary protein structures by chemical cross‐linking and mass spectrometry (MS) has recently gained importance. To locate the cross‐linker modification, dedicated software is applied to analyze the mass or tandem mass spectra (MS/MS). Such software requires information on target amino acids to limit the data analysis time. The most commonly used homobifunctional N‐hydroxy succinimide (NHS) esters are often described as reactive exclusively towards primary amines, although side reactions with tyrosine and serine have been reported. Our goal was to systematically study the reactivity of NHS esters and derive some general rules for their attack of nucleophilic amino acid side chains in peptides. We therefore studied the cross‐linking reactions of synthesized and commercial model peptides with disuccinimidyl suberate (DSS). The first reaction site in all cases was expectedly the α‐NH₂‐group of the N‐terminus or the ε‐NH₂‐group of lysine. As soon as additional cross‐linkers were attached or loops were formed, other amino acids were also involved in the reaction. In addition to the primary amino groups, serine, threonine and tyrosine showed significant reactivity due to the effect of neighboring amino acids by intermediate or permanent Type‐1 cross‐link formation. The reactivity is highly dependent on the pH and on adjacent amino acids. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Structure investigation of Maltacine C1a, C1b, C2a and C2b-cyclic peptide lactones of the Maltacine complex from Bacillus subtilis

A new complex of cyclic peptide lactone antibiotics from Bacillus subtilis, which we named Maltacines, has recently been described. The structure elucidation of four of them is reported in this paper. The amino acid sequences and structures of the peptides were found by MS(n) of the ring-opened linear peptides, which gave uninterrupted sequences of Bn and Y'n ions. The identities of three unknown residues in the sequences were solved by a combination of derivatisation with phenylisothiocyanate (PITC), high-resolution mass spectrometry and H/D exchange. The nature and position of the cyclic structure was disclosed by a chemo-selective ring opening with Na18OH and was found to be a lactone formed between a hydroxyl of residue number 4 and the C-terminal amino acid number 12. For verification of the structure of the B2+ ion, peptides with different combinations of P/Q and P/K at the N-terminus were synthesised. The structure of the four peptides were found to be: C1a and C2a: cyclo-4,12(P-Q-Y-Adip-V-E-T-Y-Orn-103-Y-I-OH) and C1b/C2b: cyclo-4,12(P-Q-Y-Adip-V-E-T-Y-K-103-Y-I-OH). Adip = aminodihydroxy pentanoic acid.     

Cholic acid as template for multivalent peptide assembly

Cholic acid, an amphiphilic steroid containing several selectively addressable functionalities, was exploited as a rigid template for multivalent peptide assembly. Thus, cholic acid-based templates suitable for chemoselective peptide ligation were synthesized, in which maleimide or bromoacetyl moieties were selectively introduced at the 3alpha, 7alpha, 12alpha-positions of cholic acid with varied length of linkers. Three peptides were chosen and tested for the chemoselective ligation. These include the HIV-1 peptide inhibitor DP178, the universal T-helper epitope derived from tetanus toxoid (830-844), and the minimum epitope sequence of the HIV-neutralizing antibody 2F5. It was found that the maleimide-functionalized templates are highly efficient for the ligation of all the peptides, while bromoacetyl templates led to low yield of ligation. Circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopic studies of the multivalent peptides (10a and 11a) containing three strands of peptide DP178 indicate that the template-assembled peptides form three alpha-helix bundles with significantly enhanced alpha-helix contents than the single peptide. The results suggest that cholic acid is a valuable template for constructing alpha-helix bundles that may be useful as mimics of conformational epitopes for vaccine development.     

Structure investigation of Maltacine D1a, D1b and D1c-cyclic peptide lactones of the Maltacine complex from Bacillus subtilis

A new complex of cyclic peptide lactone antibiotics from Bacillus subtilis, which we named Maltacines has recently been described. The structure elucidation of three of them is reported in this paper. The amino acid sequences and structures of the peptides were found by MS(n) of the ring-opened linear peptides that gave uninterrupted sequences of Bn and Y'n ions. The identities of four unknown residues in the sequences were solved by a combination of derivatisation with phenylisothiocyanate (PITC), high-resolution mass spectrometry and H/D exchange. The nature and position of the cyclic structure was disclosed by a chemo-selective ring opening with Na18OH and was found to be a lactone formed between a hydroxyl of residue number 4 and the C-terminal amino acid number 12. For verification of the structure of the B2 + ion, peptides with different combinations of P/Q and P/K at the N-terminus were synthesized. The structures of the four peptides is tentatively suggested to be: D1a: cyclo(4,12)-P-Q-Y-Adip-A-E-T-Y-Orn-HGly-Y-I-OH, D1b: cyclo(4,12)-P-Q-Y-Adip-A-E-T-Y-Orn-S-Y-I-OH and D1c: cyclo(4,12)-P-Q-Y-Adip-A-E-T-Y-K-S-Y-I-OH. Adip = aminodihydroxy pentanoic acid and HGly = hydroxyglycine.     

The influence of the structure of the surface of functional organosilicas on the adsorption of cholic acid

High-dispersity silica was modified by functional groups capable of protonating or carrying a constant positive charge. IR and UV spectroscopy, temperature-programmed thermogravimetry, pH metry, and quantitative analysis of grafted compounds were used to determine the structure of the surface of functional organosilicas. The adsorption of primary bile (cholic) acid on silica adsorbents and cholestiramine was studied. The adsorption of cholic acid from solutions with pH 2–8 was substantially higher on adsorbents with positively charged surfaces. The silica adsorbents synthesized were shown to have higher cholic acid adsorption parameters compared with adsorbents used in medicine.     

Novel bile acid derived H‐phosphonate conjugates: Synthesis and spectroscopic characterization

The H‐phosphonate bioconjugates of bile acids, conjugated with various alcohols and nucleosides, were obtained in one pot by a tandem transesterification with diphenyl phosphite (DPP). The synthesis of cholic acid derived phosphoramide from the corresponding H‐phosphonate was also demonstrated. The structures of these novel conjugates were confirmed on the basis of IR,³¹P NMR, ¹H NMR, and mass spectra. The synthesized bile acid conjugates were mixtures of diastereoisomers due to the chirality of the phosphorus. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heteroatom Chem 19:402–407, 2008; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/hc.20447     

Determination of ricin by nano liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry after extraction using lactose-immobilized monolithic silica spin column

Ricin is a glycosylated proteinous toxin that is registered as toxic substance by Chemical Weapons convention. Current detection methods can result in false negatives and/or positives, and their criteria are not based on the identification of the protein amino acid sequences. In this study, lactose-immobilized monolithic silica extraction followed by tryptic digestion and liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) was developed as a method for rapid and accurate determination of ricin. Lactose, which was immobilized on monolithic silica, was used as a capture ligand for ricin extraction from the sample solution, and the silica was supported in a disk-packed spin column. Recovery of ricin was more than 40%. After extraction, the extract was digested with trypsin and analyzed by LC/MS. The accurate masses of molecular ions and MS/MS spectra of the separated peptide peaks were measured by Fourier transform-MS and linear iontrap-MS, respectively. Six peptides, which were derived from the ricin A-(m/z 537.8, 448.8 and 586.8) and B-chains (m/z 701.3, 647.8 and 616.8), were chosen as marker peptides for the identification of ricin. Among these marker peptides, two peptides were ricin-specific. This method was applied to the determination of ricin from crude samples. The monolithic silica extraction removed most contaminant peaks from the total ion chromatogram of the sample, and the six marker peptides were clearly detected by LC/MS. It takes about 5 h for detection and identification of more than 8 ng/ml of ricin through the whole handling, and this procedure will be able to deal with the terrorism using chemical weapon.