Depth profiling of sterically-stabilised polystyrene nanoparticles using laser ablation/ionisation mass spectrometric methods

An aerodynamic lens has been used to introduce polystyrene nanoparticles into an apparatus that combines laser vaporisation with mass spectrometric measurements of ion intensity. The particles have a mean diameter of 129 nm and are sterically-stabilised with poly(ethylene glycol) which coats the surface to a depth of approximately 5 nm. Measurements have been made at wavelengths of 266, 355, and 523 nm, and over a range of laser powers. The results provide clear evidence that depth profiling can be achieved by changing the wavelength of the ablating radiation, but that changes in power at a single wavelength have little influence on the range of ions observed. At 523 nm the mass spectra are predominantly derived from surface-bound material, whilst at 266 nm the dominant contribution is from ions related to the polystyrene core of the particles. It is proposed that these differences in behaviour can be equated with existing models of the laser ablation process.     

Rapid ambient mass spectrometric profiling of intact, untreated bacteria using desorption electrospray ionization

Desorption electrospray ionization (DESI) allows the rapid acquisition of highly reproducible mass spectra from intact microorganisms under ambient conditions; application of principal component analysis to the data allows sub-species differentiation.     

Complete profiling and characterization of in vitro nefazodone metabolites using two different tandem mass spectrometric platforms

This paper describes the complete profiling and characterization of in vitro metabolites of the antidepressant agent nefazodone (NEF) generated by human liver microsome (HLM). Two new metabolic pathways (biotransformation) for NEF have been discovered by the characterization of three new metabolites, including two new metabolites (M24, M25) formed due to the N-dealkylation reaction that occurred between the triazolone and propyl units, and one new metabolite (M26) formed due to the O-dearylation reaction that occurred on the phenoxyethyl unit. These metabolites were initially detected by a 4000 Q-Trap instrument and then confirmed by exact mass measurement using an LTQ-Orbitrap. Both instruments proved to be capable of providing complete in vitro metabolite information in a single liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) analysis, although each had its advantages and disadvantages. One noticeable disadvantage of the 4000 Q-Trap was the reduced quality of isotopic pattern in the enhanced mass scan (EMS) spectrum when it was used as survey scan to trigger multiple dependent product ion scans. The problem was especially exacerbated for minor metabolites with low signal intensity. On the other hand, the LTQ-Orbitrap maintained excellent isotopic pattern when used as a full scan survey scan. Twenty-six metabolites were detected and identified. The formation of these new metabolites was also confirmed by analyzing duplicate incubations at different time points.     

Automated peak tracking for comprehensive impurity profiling in orthogonal liquid chromatographic separation using mass spectrometric detection

The presence and quantity of impurities in pharmaceutical drugs can have a significant impact on their quality and safety. With the continuous pressure for increased industry productivity, there is urgent need for a systematic and comprehensive drug impurity profiling strategy. We report here our development of the fully automated Comprehensive Orthogonal Method Evaluation Technology (COMET) system. The system includes five columns, seven orthogonal HPLC methods, and hyphenated UV-MS detections, which provides automated generic impurities screening for any drug sample. An automated MS peak tracking approach by program-based mass spectral interpretation is devised to unambiguously track impurities among all orthogonal HPLC methods. The program passes electro-spray ionization mass spectra (ESI-MS) through four sequential decision-making mass ion tests and determines molecular weights for every peak. The system reduces the time required to obtain impurity profile from weeks to days, while the automated MS peak tracking takes only minutes to interpret all MS spectral data of interest. Up-to-date, impurity contents of 56 in-development drug candidate samples have all been successfully illustrated by COMET, which contained more than 500 chemical entities. The program is able to track more than 80% of the compounds automatically with majority of the failure due to insufficient ionization for some impurities by ESI. This system is well suited for efficient drug development and ensuring the quality and safety of drug products.     

表达蛋白质质谱分析

对基因编码的蛋白质进行系统分析可以为注释基因组信息和研究疾病发生机理提供参考.质谱因其高通量、高灵敏度和高精度等特点成为蛋白质表达谱研究的核心技术.过去10年,质谱技术的发展大大促进了蛋白质表达谱的研究.本文综述了蛋白质表达谱的定性和定量研究进展,并展望了进一步的研究方向.     

Current approaches for global post-translational modification discovery and mass spectrometric analysis

More and more attention is being focused on the analysis of post-translational modifications (PTMs) on proteins as researchers are continually learning how essential they are for proper cellular function. As there are hundreds of different types of known PTMs, traditional methods of modification analysis are incapable of comprehensively monitoring for post-translational modifications, a task which is a necessity for truly understanding a cell's biology. This review highlights recent developments in novel multiplexed methods of PTM analysis including: fluorescent stain and immuno-based methods, hardware-based mass spectrometric methods and computational-based mass spectrometric methods. Many of these techniques show great promise and will likely be a valuable resource for the biological community.     

Tandem mass spectrometric approaches for the analysis of alkylguanines in human urine

Human exposure to carcinogenic alkylating agents can lead to the formation of covalently bound adducts in DNA, some of which are excreted in urine as alkylated purines following DNA degradation and repair. Tandem mass spectrometric methods have been developed for the qualitative and quantitative determination of such alkylpurines in human urine. Short-chain alkyl- and hydroxyalkylguanines have been synthesized with the substituents at the N-7-, O⁶- and N2-positions of guanine. Examination of the product ion scans of their molecular ions (electron impact (EI) ionization) revealed that the ion at m/z 151, [guanine]⁺, was common to all of the alkylguanines studied, with the exception of the methylated analogues. Precursor ion scans of this ion on partially purified human urine extracts showed the presence of several ions (e.g. m/z 179, 195) which were consistent with molecular ions for alkylguanines. The presence of these and other constituents was confirmed by product ion spectra of molecular ions (EI and fast atom bombardment), and by high-performance liquid chromatographic separation prior to tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). Evidence was obtained for the presence of N-7-methyl-, N²-dimethyl-, N²-dimethyl-, N²-ethyl- and N-7-(2-hydroxyethyl)guanine. Quantitative methods were established for these five alkyl guanines using gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and GC/MS/MS. Deuterated internal standards were synthesized and added to the urine prior to extraction of alkylpurines by Sep-Pak cartridge chromatography. The products were converted into their tert-butyldimethylsilyl derivatives and analysed by selected ion monitoring (SIM) of [M – 57]⁺ or by multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) of the fragmentation M^+˙ → [M – 57]⁺. The MRM method yielded values for N-7-methylguanine of 2.57 ± S.D. 1.32 mg day^?1 (n = 6), N2-methylguanine of 0.31 ± 0.10 mg day^?1 (n = 10) and N²-dimethylguanine of 0.21 ± 0.23 mg day^?1 (n = 10). N²-Ethyl- and N-7-(2-hydroxyethyl)guanine could only be detected by SIM at levels of ～0.5 and 2 μg day^?1, respectively. The MRM analyses, although inherently less sensitive than the SIM analyses, exhibit greater selectivity and consequently fewer contaminant ions.     

Metabolic profiling using Fourier-transform ion-cyclotron-resonance mass spectrometry

With the aid of the extreme resolving power of Fourier-transform ion-cyclotron-resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR/MS), we have developed a metabolomics platform for high-throughput metabolic profiling and metabolite candidate identification integrating a data-processing system, the Dr.DMASS program (), and a metabolite-species database, KNApSAcK (). We discuss the potential of this FT-ICR/MS-based metabolic profiling scheme as a general metabolomics tool by clarification of plant metabolic disorders and specific metabolite accumulation patterns caused by herbicidal enzyme inhibitors.     

同位素质谱与无机质谱分析

本文是《分析试验室》定期评述中“无机质谱分析”课题的第二篇评述文章,它增加了同位素质谱分析的内容,故将题目改为现今题目,它综述了1985年～1990年间同位素质谱和无机质谱的发展概况。其中包括同位素示踪、同位素稀释、火花源质谱、二次离子质谱、等离子体质谱等。内容以国内为主,也收集了少量代表学科先进水平的外国文献。     

Glycerophospholipid profiling by high‐performance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry using exact mass measurements and multi‐stage mass spectrometric fragmentation experiments in parallel

A profiling method for glycerophospholipids (GPs) in biological samples was developed using reversed‐phase high‐performance liquid chromatography (RP‐HPLC) coupled to hybrid linear ion trap‐Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (LIT‐FTICRMS) with electrospray ionization (ESI) in the negative ionization mode. The method allowed qualitative (identification and structure elucidation) and relative quantitative determination of various classes of GPs including phosphatidylcholines, phosphatidylethanolamines, phosphatidylinositols, phosphatidylserines, phosphatidic acids, phosphatidylglycerols, and cardiolipins in a single experiment. Chromatographic separation was optimized by the examination of different buffer systems and special emphasis was paid on the detection by ESI‐MS. The hybrid LIT‐FTICRMS system was operated in the data‐dependent mode, switching automatically between FTICRMS survey scans and LIT‐MS/MS experiments. Thereby, exact masses for elemental composition determination and fragmentation data for identification and assignment of fatty acid residues are provided at the same time. The low absolute instrumental limits of detection (0.05 pmol for phosphatidylglycerol to 1 pmol for phosphatidic acid) complemented by a linear dynamic range of 1.5 to 2.5 orders of magnitude facilitated the relative quantification of GP species in a lipid extract from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The developed method is a valuable tool for in‐depth GP profiling of biological systems. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Analysis of recombinant human follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) by mass spectrometric approaches

Recombinant human follicle stimulating hormone is an important drug in reproductive medicine. Thorough analysis of the heterodimeric heavily glycosylated protein is a prerequisite for the evaluation of production batches as well as for the determination of “essential similarity” of new biosimilars. The concerted application of different liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry methods enabled the complete depiction of the primary structure of this pituitary hormone. Sequence coverage of 100% for the α- as well as the β-chain was achieved with tryptic peptides. Most of these peptides could be verified by tandem mass spectrometry. Site-specific analysis of all four glycosylation sites was, however, not possible with tryptic but with chymotryptic peptides. Quantification of the glycoforms of each glycopeptide was accomplished with the software MassMap®. Both protein subunits gave interpretable mass spectra upon S-alkylation and separation on a C5 reversed-phase column. Glycan isomer patterns were depicted by separation on porous graphitic carbon, using mass spectrometric detection for the evaluation of the glycopeptide liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization data. The currently marketed product Gonal-f? and a potential biosimilar were compared with the help of these procedures.

Open image in new window

Figure Schematic depiction of the glycoprotein nature of human follicle-stimulating hormone with the alfa chain in blue and the beta chain in purple and a mass spectrum of the alfa chain at the bottom.

     

化学计量学方法用于蛋白质组学质谱数据的特征筛选

提出了一种基于偏最小二乘判别分析和F-score的特征筛选方法,并将其用于蛋白质组学质谱数据分析。方法主要包含3个步骤:(1)用LIMPIC算法对原始数据进行预处理;(2)计算每个变量的F-score值并将所有变量按F-score值降底的顺序排列;(3)采用偏最小二乘判别分析交互检验按前向选择法选择最佳变量子集。用本方法对一组卵巢癌数据进行分析,最终从原始的15154个质荷比变量中选择了12个特征变量作为潜在生物标记物,它们在训练集上交叉检验的特异性和灵敏度分别为98.36%和98.15%,在独立测试集上的特异性和灵敏度分别为96.67%和100%。用筛选出的变量作PCA所得的结果显示这些变量能够较好地将样本分类,说明能够反映出样本的类别信息。所提出的方法可用于蛋白质组学质谱数据的特征筛选及样本分类。     

Characterization of erythropoietin biosimilars using mass spectrometric CID and HCD techniques

Recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO) is the first cloned hematopoietic growth factor available for pharmaceutical treatment, especially anemia, since 1988. Unfortunately, the ability of rHuEPO in boosting erythropoiesis, and thus aerobic capacity has led to its abuse in endurance sport. Besides, the expiry of the original rHuEPO patent has resulted in many biosimilars being produced which led to special requirements regarding quality control. As a consequence, there is a huge demand for all rHuEPOs to be well characterized for the ease of identification, differentiation, and detection. Glycoproteomic mass spectrometry, the most current promising approach for rHuEPOs analysis, was employed to characterize 4 rHuEPOs including epoetin-α, epoetin-β, darbepoetin-α and Mircera. Via nanoLC-ESI-MS/MS, distinct glycoproteomic profiles of each rHuEPO have been achieved for differential analysis. With two different fragmentation methods, collision-induced dissociation (CID) and higher-energy collision dissociation (HCD), maximum of 75%, 70%, 70%, and 77% protein sequence coverages were attained for epoetin-α, epoetin-β, darbepoetin-α and Mircera, respectively. From the peptides/glycopeptides mixture, similar and unique peptides/glycopeptides (biomarkers) for each rHuEPO have been identified. With the discovery of high quality and unique biomarkers, a more standardized and efficient method for quality control and rHuEPO abuse detection can be developed.     

Proteomic profiling of a snake venom using high mass detection MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry

Proteomic profiling involves identification and quantification of protein components in complex biological systems. Most of the mass profiling studies performed with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) have been restricted to peptides and small proteins (<20 kDa) because the sensitivity of the standard ion detectors decreases with increasing ion mass. Here we perform a protein profiling study of the snake venom Sistrurus miliarius barbouri, comparing 2D gel electrophoresis and reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with a high mass cryodetector MALDI-TOF instrument (Macromizer), whose detector displays an uniform sensitivity with mass. Our results show that such MS approach can render superior analysis of protein complexity compared with that obtained with the electrophoretic and chromatographic approaches. The summation of ion impacts allows relative quantification of different proteins, and the number of ion counts correlates with the peak areas in the reversed-phase HPLC. Furthermore, the sensitivity reached with the high mass cryodetection MS technology clearly exceeds the detection limit of standard high-sensitivity staining methods.     

An evaluation of microwave-assisted derivatization procedures using hyphenated mass spectrometric techniques

The potential of microwave-assisted derivatization techniques in systematic toxicological analysis using gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC–MS) was evaluated. Special emphasis was placed on the use of dedicated microwave reactors incorporating online temperature and pressure control. The use of such equipment allowed a detailed analysis of several microwave-assisted derivatization protocols comparing the efficiency of microwave and conventional heating methods utilizing a combination of GC–MS and liquid chromatography coupled with mass detection (LC–MS and LC–MS/MS) techniques. These studies revealed that for standard derivatization protocols such as acetylation (exemplified for codeine and morphine), pentafluoropropionylation (for 6-monoacetylmorphine) and trimethylsilylation (for Δ⁹-tetrahydrocannabinol) a reaction time of 5 min at 100 °C in a microwave reactor was sufficient to allow for an effective derivatization. Control experiments using standard operating procedures (30 min at 60 °C conventional heating) indicated that the faster derivatization under microwave irradiation is a consequence of the higher reaction temperatures that can rapidly be attained in a sealed vessel and the more efficient heat transfer to the reaction mixture applying direct in core microwave dielectric heating. The results suggest that microwave derivatization procedures can significantly reduce the overall analysis time and increase sample throughput for GC–MS-based analytical methods.