Tandem mass spectrometry study of p38α kinase inhibitors and related substances

The p38 mitogen‐activated protein kinase α (p38α) is an important drug target widely investigated for therapy of chronic inflammatory diseases. Its inhibitors are rather lipophilic and as such not very favourable lead compounds in drug discovery. Therefore, we explored various approaches to access new chemical space, create diversity, and generate lead libraries with improved solubility and reduced lipophilicity, based on known p38α inhibitors, e.g., BIRB796 and TAK‐715. Compound modification strategies include incubation with human liver microsomes and bacterial cytochrome P450 mutants from Bacillus megaterium and treatment by electrochemical oxidation, H₂O₂, and intense light irradiation. The MS/MS fragmentation pathways of p38α inhibitors and their conversion products have been studied in an ion‐trap–time‐of‐flight MSⁿ instrument. Interpretation of accurate mass MSⁿ data for four sets of related compounds revealed unexpected and peculiar fragmentation pathways that are discussed in detail. Emphasis is put on the usefulness of HRMSⁿ‐based structure elucidation in a screening setting and on peculiarities of the fragmentation with regard to the analytes and the MS instrument. In one example, an intramolecular rearrangement reaction accompanied by the loss of a bulky group is observed. For BIRB796, the double‐charge precursor ion is used in MS², providing a wider range of fragment ions in our instrument. For TAK‐715, a number of related compounds could be produced in a large‐scale incubation with a Bacillus megaterium mutant, thus enabling comparison of the structure elucidation by ¹H NMR and MSⁿ. A surprisingly large number of homolytic cleavages are observed. Competition between two fragmentation pathways involving either the loss of CH₃^? or OH^? radicals was observed for SB203580 and its conversion products. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ligand fishing and identification of acetylcholinesterase inhibitors in Mahonia bealei (Fort.) Carr. using high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry

Abstract

A fishing platform was developed using immobilized capillary enzyme reactors in combination with liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) to fish acetylcholinesterase inhibitor (AChEI) from Mahonia bealei (Fort.) Carr. (M. bealei) extract. Four potential AChEIs (columbamine, jatrorrhizine, berberine, and palmatine) were successfully screened out and identified. Their AChE inhibitory activities were further verified by an in vitro assay with IC₅₀ values of 0.93?±?0.12?μg/mL (columbamine), 3.50?±?0.15?μg/mL (jatrorrhizine), 2.51?±?0.12?μg/mL (berberine), and 1.52?±?0.13?μg/mL (palmatine). A synergy study of these AChEIs was subsequently investigated. In comparison with the IC₅₀ value of M. bealei extract (IC₅₀=0.83?±?0.21?μg/mL), it can be stated that M. bealei extract is much more active than any single AChEI. Thereafter, the determination of these four alkaloids were investigated and AChE inhibitory effect were compared in terms of the extract and corresponding contents of these four alkaloids. The inhibitory effects of extract at each concentration were stronger than four alkaloids mixture. The results demonstrated that not the four AChEI mixture cause the synergistic effect but rather than the concentrations or ratios of these AChEIs play a vital role in their synergy study.     

Enhanced skin anti-inflammatory and moisturizing action of gold nanoparticles produced utilizing Diospyros kaki fruit extracts

Inflammatory skin diseases (ISD) cause very severe itchy skin and dryness which is now a days an important issue which has to be taken care. Nanotechnology plays a main role in manufacturing cosmetic ingredients at a nanoscale size. Among different nanoparticles, gold (Au) is one of the non-toxic materials synthesized organically or inorganically. For synthesizing nanoparticles (NPs), using inorganic methods may cause some toxicity to cells, but using organic synthesis like plant extract is less toxic and environmentally friendly. Therefore, we synthesized DK-AuNPs using Diospyros kaki fruit extract. UPLC-MS/MS was used to evaluate phytochemicals responsible for converting salt into nanoparticles. The DK-AuNPs were characterized to confirm the formation of NPs. Furthermore, we analyzed the activity of DK-AuNPs on human keratinocytes (HaCaT cells). The DK-AuNPs showed 98.2 % cell survival upto 200 µg/mL against HaCaT cells. Additionally, compared to DK treatment, DK-AuNPs therapy decreased ROS production in TNF-α/IFN-γ (T + I) stimulated HaCaT cells by 68.7 %, whereas DK treatment reduced ROS generation by 27.8 %. Moreover, the skin anti-inflammatory potential and moisturizing effect of DK-AuNPs were analyzed using HaCaT cells. Furthermore, skin inflammatory activity biomarkers were downregulated through the MAPK/NFκB signaling pathway and showed significant inhibition by DK-AuNPs. Also, the skin moisturizing biomarkers such as HAS (1–3) were upregulated and HYAL (1–2) were downregulated by PI3K/AKT/NFκB through HAS2 regulation. Therefore, skin anti-inflammatory and moisturizing activity were enhanced by treatment with DK-AuNPs. In summary, we conclude that the DK-AuNPs could be a new alternative for skin disease.