N-Protonated Isomers as Gateways to Peptide Ion Fragmentation

According to the popular “mobile proton model” for peptide ion fragmentation in tandem mass spectrometry, peptide bond cleavage is typically preceded by intramolecular proton transfer from basic sites to an amide nitrogen in the backbone. If the intrinsic barrier to dissociation is the same for all backbone sites, the fragmentation propensity at each amide bond should reflect the stability of the corresponding N-protonated isomer. This hypothesis was tested by using ab initio and force-field computations on several polyalanines and Leu-enkephalin. The results agree acceptably with experimental reports, supporting the hypothesis. It was found that backbone N-protonation is most favorable near the C-terminus. The preference for C-terminal N-protonation, which is stronger for longer polyalanines, may be understood in terms of the well known “helix macrodipole” in the corresponding helical conformations. The opposite stability trend is found for peptides constrained to be linear, which is initially surprising but turns out to be consistent with the reversed direction of the macrodipole in the linear conformation.     

紫外光诱导氧合型肌红蛋白氧化反应及机理

肌红蛋白通常在无光条件下可进行输氧、储氧等重要功能,实验中我们发现紫外光照射可促进氧合肌红蛋白(MbO₂)的氧化反应,证实其在光照时部分生理功能会发生变化。紫外-可见(UV-Vis)吸收光谱数据显示,光照射时MbO₂的Soret带最大吸收波长蓝移、Q吸收带544和580 nm处还原峰强度下降,说明紫外光光照促进O₂解离, MbFe(Ⅱ)可被氧化至MbFe(Ⅲ)。四种波长光对光照氧化的影响程度为254 nm > 280 nm >430 nm > 409 nm;通入CO气体时氧合肌红蛋白较难发生光照氧化反应,即Fe的第六配位强度影响反应程度;溶液中的H⁺或OH^-对光照氧化反应有促进作用; 254、280 nm波长光照射时,苯丙氨酸(Phe)、酪氨酸(Tyr)、色氨酸(Trp)三种游离氨基酸均促进光照氧化反应的进行,而409、430 nm波长光照射时三种游离氨基酸对光照氧化反应的影响较小。以上数据表明体内光诱导MbO₂氧化反应过程中蛋白质内的Fe(Ⅱ)能否被光照激发形成未成对电子处于激发态是O₂离去和二价铁被氧化的关键。     

213 nm Ultraviolet Photodissociation on Peptide Anions: Radical-Directed Fragmentation Patterns

Characterization of acidic peptides and proteins is greatly hindered due to lack of suitable analytical techniques. Here we present the implementation of 213 nm ultraviolet photodissociation (UVPD) in high-resolution quadrupole-Orbitrap mass spectrometer in negative polarity for peptide anions. Radical-driven backbone fragmentation provides 22 distinctive fragment ion types, achieving the complete sequence coverage for all reported peptides. Hydrogen-deficient radical anion not only promotes the cleavage of C_α–C bond but also stimulates the breaking of N–C_α and C–N bonds. Radical-directed loss of small molecules and specific side chain of amino acids are detected in these experiments. Radical containing side chain of amino acids (Tyr, Ser, Thr, and Asp) may possibly support the N–C_α backbone fragmentation. Proline comprising peptides exhibit the unusual fragment ions similar to reported earlier. Interestingly, basic amino acids such as Arg and Lys also stimulated the formation of abundant b and y ions of the related peptide anions. Loss of hydrogen atom from the charge-reduced radical anion and fragment ions are rationalized by time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) calculation, locating the potential energy surface (PES) of ππ* and repulsive πσ* excited states of a model amide system.

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Effects of Alkali Metal Ion Cationization on Fragmentation Pathways of Triazole-Epothilone

The collisionally activated dissociation mass spectra of the protonated and alkali metal cationized ions of a triazole-epothilone analogue were studied in a Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer. The fragmentation pathway of the protonated ion was characterized by the loss of the unit of C₃H₄O₃. However, another fragmentation pathway with the loss of C₃H₂O₂ was identified for the complex ions with Na⁺, K⁺, Rb⁺, and Cs⁺. The branching ratio of the second pathway increases with the increment of the size of alkali metal ions. Theoretical calculations based on density functional theory (DFT) method show the difference in the binding position of the proton and the metal ions. With the increase of the radii of the metal ions, progressive changes in the macrocycle of the compound are induced, which cause the corresponding change in their fragmentation pathways. It has also been found that the interaction energy between the compound and the metal ion decreases with increase in the size of the latter. This is consistent with the experimental results, which show that cesiated complexes readily eject Cs⁺ when subject to collisions.     

Formation and Fragmentation of Radical Peptide Anions: Insights from Vacuum Ultra Violet Spectroscopy

We have studied the photodissociation of gas-phase deprotonated caerulein anions by vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) photons in the 4.5 to 20 eV range, as provided by the DESIRS beamline at the synchrotron radiation facility SOLEIL (France). Caerulein is a sulphated peptide with three aromatic residues and nine amide bonds. Electron loss is found to be the major relaxation channel at every photon energy. However, an increase in the fragmentation efficiency (neutral losses and peptide backbone cleavages) as a function of the energy is also observed. The oxidized ions, generated by electron photodetachment were further isolated and activated by collision (CID) in a MS³ scheme. The branching ratios of the different fragments observed by CID as a function of the initial VUV photon energy are found to be independent of the initial photon energy. Thus, there is no memory effect of the initial excitation energy on the fragmentation channels of the oxidized species on the time scale of our tandem MS experiment. We also report photofragment yields as a function of photon energy for doubly deprotonated caerulein ions, for both closed-shell ([M–2H]^2–) non-radical ions and open-shell ([M–3H]^2–•) radical ions. These latter ions are generated by electron photodetachment from [M–3H]^3– precursor ions. The detachment yield increases monotonically with the energy with the appearance of several absorption bands. Spectra for radical and non-radical ions are quite similar in terms of observed bands; however, the VUV fragmentation yield is enhanced by the presence of a radical in caerulein peptides.     

Studies on Fragmentation of Peptide by Nano-electrospray Ionization Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Multi-stage Tandem Mass Spectrometry

The sequence analysis of peptides was performed by nano-electrospray ionization Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance tandem mass spectrometry(Nano-ESI-FT-ICR-MSn) and several peptides were chosen as examples. With the aid of the collision induced dissociation(CID), FT-ICR provides not only precise mass/charge ratio, but also structure information of the selected peptides. The fragment ions were identified according to the observed molecular weights and peptide sequence was determined successfully. So Nano-ESI-FT-ICR-MSn is a useful tool for identification of the amino acid sequence of peptides with high confidence. Besides, a pathway for the dehydration of y ions without amino acids containing carboxylic acid under sustained off-resonance irradiation collision-induced dissociation(SORI-CID) condition was proposed.     

Ultraviolet Photodissociation Induced by Light‐Emitting Diodes in a Planar Ion Trap

The first application of light‐emitting diodes (LEDs) for ultraviolet photodissociation (UVPD) mass spectrometry is reported. LEDs provide a compact, low cost light source and have been incorporated directly into the trapping cell of an Orbitrap mass spectrometer. MS/MS efficiencies of over 50 % were obtained using an extended irradiation period, and UVPD was optimized by modulating the ion trapping parameters to maximize the overlap between the ion cloud and the irradiation volume.     

Photofragmentation of Isoleucine by Vacuum Ultraviolet Photoionization

Vacuum ultraviolet photon-induced ionization and dissociation of isoleucine are investi-gated with synchrotron radiation photoionization mass spectroscopy and theoretical cal-culations. The main fragment ions at m/z=86, 75, 74, 69, 57, 46, 45, 44, 41, 30, 28, and 18 from isoleucine are observed in the mass spectrum at the photon energy of 13 eV. From the photoionization e±ciency curves, appearance energies for the principal fragment ions C₅H₁₂N⁺ (m/z=86)、C₂H₅NO₄⁺ (m/z=75)、C₅H₉⁺ (m/z=69)、C₄H₉⁺(m/z=57), and CH₄N⁺(m/z=30) are determined to be 8.84±0.07, 9.25±0.06, 10.20±0.12, 9.25±0.10, and 11.05±0.07 eV, respectively, and possible formation pathways are established in detail by the calculations at the B3LYP/6-31++G(d, p) levels. These proposed channels include simple bond cleavage reactions as well as reactions involving intermediates and transition structures. The experimental and computational appearance energies or barriers are in good agreement.     

Densification of Sol-Gel Thin Films by Ultraviolet and Vacuum Ultraviolet Irradiations

Structural changes in SiO₂ and TiO₂ gel films were investigated using ultraviolet (UV) and vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) irradiations. A significant compaction with dehydration of SiO₂ gel films was induced by irradiation of photons in the range of 9–18 eV. The refractive index and the shrinkage of the irradiated SiO₂ gel films were comparable to those obtained by sintering at 1000°C. Densification of TiO₂ gel films was also observed with irradiation of 5–14 eV photons. However, effects of the irradiation on TiO₂ gel were smaller that those on SiO₂ gel. The structural changes in the gel films are attributed to electronic excitations which are induced by irradiation with photons having higher energies than the bandgap of the oxides. The photo-induced effects are presumed to depend on the optical properties and structure of the gels.     

Analysis of Fragmentation Pathways of Peptide Modified with Quaternary Ammonium and Phosphonium Group as Ionization Enhancers

Peptide modification by a quaternary ammonium group containing a permanent positive charge is a promising method of increasing the ionization efficiency of the analyzed compounds, making ultra-sensitive detection even at the attomolar level possible. Charge-derivatized peptides may undergo both charge remote (ChR) and charge-directed (ChD) fragmentation. A series of model peptide conjugates derivatized with N,N,N-triethyloammonium (TEA), 1-azoniabicyclo[2.2.2]octane (ABCO), 2,4,6-triphenylopyridinium (TPP) and tris(2,4,6-trimetoxyphenylo)phosphonium (TMPP) groups were analyzed by their fragmentation pathways both in collision-induced dissociation (CID) and electron-capture dissociation (ECD) mode. The effect of the fixed-charge tag type and peptide sequence on the fragmentation pathways was investigated. We found that the aspartic acid effect plays a crucial role in the CID fragmentation of TPP and TEA peptide conjugates whereas it was not resolved for the peptides derivatized with the phosphonium group. ECD spectra are mostly dominated by c_n ions. ECD fragmentation of TMPP-modified peptides results in the formation of intense fragments derived from this fixed-charge tag, which may serve as reporter ion.     

超疏水二氧化钛薄膜的制备及其经紫外光照射引发的超亲水性研究

通过水热反应,在玻璃基底上沉积生成TiO₂薄膜,TiO₂薄膜呈花朵状,具有微纳米级的复合结构,在其表面有大量的乳状突起,经辛基三甲氧基硅烷表面修饰后表现出良好的超疏水性,静态接触角为164°,滚动角为4°。经紫外光照射4~6 h后,其表面变为超亲水性,接触角接近0°。用红外光谱,X射线光电子能谱(XPS)对其表面物质及元素进行表征,最后用Cassie理论对膜的润湿性进行了分析。     

Vacuum Ultraviolet Irradiation of Polymers

The interest in incoherent sources for wavelength-selective photochemistry has increased lately, but little is still known about the behavior of polymers when exposed to far UV and vacuum UV (VUV) radiation. The same dearth of information exists regarding UV (VUV) radiation emitted by low-pressure plasmas during polymer treatment. In order to study VUV-UV effects on several polymers (polyethylene - PE, polystyrene - PS, hexatriacontane - HTC, and poly(methyl methacrylate) - PMMA), we have used the well-characterized emissions from hydrogen (broad-band emission) and hydrogen/argon mixture (near-monochromatic radiation) plasmas as light sources. During irradiation, samples were kept under vacuum or in a flow of pure oxygen at low pressure; in both cases the radiation fluxes at the sample position have been precisely determined by careful spectroscopic calibration experiments. We have employed a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) to measure in-situ any possible mass change of the various polymers. Following irradiation, samples were analysed by ellipsometry (for thickness and refractive index), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS, to evaluate the near-surface composition and content of various functional groups), and atomic force microscopy (AFM, for surface topography and roughness measurements).     

Identification of Chemokine Ligands by Biochemical Fragmentation and Simulated Peptide Evolution

Short linear peptides can overcome certain limitations of small molecules for targeting protein–protein interactions (PPIs). Herein, the interaction between the human chemokine CCL19 with chemokine receptor CCR7 was investigated to obtain receptor‐derived CCL19‐binding peptides. After identifying a linear binding site of CCR7, five hexapeptides binding to CCL19 in the low micromolar to nanomolar range were designed, guided by pharmacophore and lipophilicity screening of computationally generated peptide libraries. The results corroborate the applicability of the computational approach and the chosen selection criteria to obtain short linear peptides mimicking a protein–protein interaction site.     

紫外检测离子色谱法测定海水中的碘离子

建立了紫外检测离子色谱法测定海水中碘离子的分析方法。样品采用滤膜净化处理,选用TSKgel guard column SuperIC-A HR保护柱(4 mm×50 mm)和TSKgel SuperIC-HR高性能分析柱(4mm×250mm),Na_2CO_3(3.2mmol/L)-NaHCO_3(1.0mmol/L)为淋洗液。碘离子使用紫外法检测,以消除氯离子干扰。在优化条件下,整个分析过程8min内完成。碘离子的方法检出限3.6μg/L,相对标准偏差(n=8)为2.0%~8.9%。加标回收率为94.9%~106%。方法操作简便、快速,适合批量样品分析检测。     

Vacuum Ultraviolet Action Spectroscopy of Polysaccharides

We studied the optical properties of gas-phase polysaccharides (maltose, maltotetraose, and maltohexaose) ions by action spectroscopy using the coupling between a quadrupole ion trap and a vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) beamline at the SOLEIL synchrotron radiation facility (France) in the 7 to 18 eV range. The spectra provide unique benchmarks for evaluation of theoretical data on electronic transitions of model carbohydrates in the VUV range. The effects of the nature of the charge held by polysaccharide ions on the relaxation processes were also explored. Finally the effect of isomerization of polysaccharides (with melezitose and raffinose) on their photofragmentation with VUV photons is presented.

聚酰胺类DNA识别分子质谱的碎裂机理

采用ESI-MS法研究了8个含有N-甲基吡咯(Py)和N-甲基咪唑(Im)杂环的聚酰胺质谱的特征和碎裂机理. MSⁿ数据表明, 聚酰胺化合物的主要碎裂路径是环与环间化学键的断裂, 即C—CO键、CO—NH键、HN—C键的断裂, 同时伴随着H原子的重排. 利用这些碎裂特征, 可以得到聚酰胺丰富的结构信息和区分它们的两种同分异构体.     

New Fragmentation Pathways for Cephalosporins by Electrospray Ionization Quadrupole Time-of-flight Mass Spectrometry

Introduction Cephalosporins are antibiotics of β-lactam family. They have a broad spectrum of antibiotic activity due to their ability to inhibit bacterial cell wall synthesis of different Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Cephalosporins are used orally or parenterally to treat a wide variety of infections throughout the body and are often prescribed to fight penicillin resistant microorganisms. They also find a common use in prophylaxis for surgical procedures where infections in the operating area could pose a serious risk[1,2].     

High-Resolution Threshold Photoelectron Spectroscopy by Vacuum Ultraviolet Laser Velocity-Map-Imaging Method

We have obtained the high-resolution threshold photoelectron (TPE) spectra of chlorobenzene C₆H₅Cl (X¹A₁), propargyl radical C₃H₃ (X²B₁), and allyl radical C₃H₅ (X²A₁) by employing the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) laser velocity-map-imaging-TPE (VUV-VMI-TPE) method. The photoelectron energy resolution of 1-2 cm^-1 observed for the VUV-VMI-TPE method is comparable to that achieved in VUV laser pulsed-field ionization-photoelectron (VUV-PFI-PE) measurements. Similar to VUV-PFI-PE measurements, the energy resolutions for VUV-VMI-photoelectron (VUV-VMI-PE) and VUV-VMI-TPE measurements are found to depend on the dc electric field F in V/cm used at the photoionization region for electron extraction. The decrease of the ionization thresholds of C₆H₅Cl and C₃H₃ observed as a function of F shows that the Stark shift correction for VUV-VMI-TPE measurements is governed by the formula -3.1√F in cm^-1, which is half of the classical prediction of -6.1√F in cm^-1.} We have also measured the VUV-VMI-PE spectra of C₆H₅Cl and C₃H₅ at VUV energies near their ionization thresholds. The cationic vibrational bands observed in the VUV-VMI-PE measurements were assigned to be the vibrational progression, nv₇⁺ (n=0-3), for C₃H₅⁺. The higher experimental sensitivity and similar energy resolutions achieved in VUV-VMI-TPE compared to VUV-PFI-PE measurements make the VUV-VMI-TPE method an excellent alternative for high-resolution VUV-PFI-PE measurements.