Probing of arginine residues in peptides and proteins using selective tagging and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

A general labelling method is presented which allows the determination of the number of guanidine groups (related to arginine and homoarginine in peptides and proteins) by means of mass spectrometry. It implies a guanidine-selective derivatization step with 2,3-butanedione and an arylboronic acid under aqueous, alkaline conditions (pH 8-10). The reaction mixture is then directly analysed by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry without further sample pretreatment. Other amino acids are not affected by this reaction although it is demonstrated that lysine side-chains may be unambiguously identified when they are converted to homoarginine prior to derivatization. Guanidine functionalities, as e.g. in the amino acid arginine, are easily identified by the characteristic mass shift between underivatized and derivatized analyte. The tagging procedure is straightforward and selective for guanidine groups. The influence of several experimental parameters, especially the pH of the solution and the choice of reagents, is examined and the method is applied to various arginine-containing peptides and to lysozyme as a representative protein. Possible applications of this technique and its limitations are discussed.     

Development of chemical isotope labeling liquid chromatography mass spectrometry for silkworm hemolymph metabolomics

Silkworm (Bombyx mori) is a very useful target insect for evaluation of endocrine disruptor chemicals (EDCs) due to mature breeding techniques, complete endocrine system and broad basic knowledge on developmental biology. Comparative metabolomics of silkworms with and without EDC exposure offers another dimension of studying EDCs. In this work, we report a workflow on metabolomic profiling of silkworm hemolymph based on high-performance chemical isotope labeling (CIL) liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS) and demonstrate its application in studying the metabolic changes associated with the pesticide dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) exposure in silkworm. Hemolymph samples were taken from mature silkworms after growing on diet that contained DDT at four different concentrations (1, 0.1, 0.01, 0.001 ppm) as well as on diet without DDT as controls. They were subjected to differential ¹²C-/¹³C-dansyl labeling of the amine/phenol submetabolome, LC-UV quantification of the total amount of labeled metabolites for sample normalization, and LC-MS detection and relative quantification of individual metabolites in comparative samples. The total concentration of labeled metabolites did not show any significant change between four DDT-treatment groups and one control group. Multivariate statistical analysis of the metabolome data set showed that there was a distinct metabolomic separation between the five groups. Out of the 2044 detected peak pairs, 338 and 1471 metabolites have been putatively identified against the HMDB database and the EML library, respectively. 65 metabolites were identified by the dansyl library searching based on the accurate mass and retention time. Among the 65 identified metabolites, 33 positive metabolites had changes of greater than 1.20-fold or less than 0.83-fold in one or more groups with p-value of smaller than 0.05. Several useful biomarkers including serine, methionine, tryptophan, asymmetric dimethylarginine, N-Methyl-D-aspartic and tyrosine were identified. The changes of these biomarkers were likely due to the disruption of the endocrine system of silkworm by DDT. This work illustrates that the method of CIL LC-MS is useful to generate quantitative submetabolome profiles from a small volume of silkworm hemolymph with much higher coverage than conventional LC-MS methods, thereby facilitating the discovery of potential metabolite biomarkers related to EDC or other chemical exposure.     

气相色谱-负化学离子源质谱法测定含硫蔬菜中残留的14种农药

建立了含硫蔬菜(大葱、大蒜、蒜薹及韭菜等)中14种农药残留的气相色谱-负化学离子源质谱(GC-NCI/MS)检测方法。样品先采用微波加热处理除去大部分的含硫干扰物,然后用乙腈均质提取,提取液用凝胶渗透色谱(GPC)和N-丙基乙二胺(PSA)固相萃取小柱净化后用GC-NCI/MS在选择离子监测模式下测定。在50 μg/kg加标水平下回收率为49.2%～113.1%,相对标准偏差为1.42%～8.70%,检出限(以3倍信噪比计)为0.5～10.0 μg/kg。方法的选择性好,抗干扰能力强,能消除复杂基质带来的干扰,适合于含硫蔬菜中农药残留的确证分析。     

A mass spectrometry approach for the study of deglycosylated proteins

Mass spectrometry (MS) analysis, after enzymatic or chemical deglycosylation, requires preparatory steps to remove salts and buffers. In this work, the glycosylated protein fetuin and a lectin protein isolated from the serum of Alligator mississippiensis were used to evaluate methods for desalting samples after an enzymatic or chemical deglycosylation. Precipitation and dialysis were used to prepare the deglycosylated samples for MS analysis. Both the precipitation and dialysis methods were suitable for sample preparation prior to analysis by matrix assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) MS.     

气相色谱-负化学离子源质谱联用法测定植物性产品中多组分农药残留量

通过气相色谱-负化学离子源质谱技术建立了同时检测18种农药残留的分析方法. 样品经正己烷和丙酮混合溶剂及正己烷提取后, 用活性炭-中性氧化铝混合小柱净化, 再由气相色谱-负化学离子源质谱分时段选择离子监测技术进行测定. 一次进样就能得到18种农药残留结果;各农药在0.005、 0.01和0.02 mg/kg 3个添加水平的平均回收率在70.2%～115.3%之间, RSD<12%, 检出限为0.01～6 μg/kg, 方法可应用于8种植物性产品中的农残检测.     

Systematic determination of ion score cutoffs based on calculated false positive rates: application for identifying ubiquitinated proteins by tandem mass spectrometry

We report a simple approach for determining ion score cutoffs that permit the confident identification of ubiquitinated proteins by tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). Initial experiments involving the analysis of gel bands containing multi-Ubiquitin chains with quadrupole time-of-flight and quadrupole ion trap mass spectrometers revealed that standard ion score cutoffs used for database searching were not sufficiently stringent. We also found that false positive and false negative rates (FPR and FNR) varied significantly depending on the cutoff scores used and that appropriate cutoffs could only be determined following a systematic evaluation of false positive rates. When standard cutoff scores were used for the analysis of complex mixtures of ubiquitinated proteins, unacceptably high FPR were observed. Finally, we found that FPR for ubiquitinated proteins are affected by the size of the protein database that is searched. These observations may be applicable for the study of other post-translational modifications.     

气相色谱-串联质谱技术分析烟草中49种农药残留

采用改进的QuEChERS(quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged and safe)前处理法,结合气相色谱-串联质谱(GC-MS/MS)技术建立了检测烟草中49种农药残留的分析方法。样品用含0.1%乙酸的乙腈溶液提取,提取液被氮吹至干后,残渣用乙腈-乙酸乙酯(1:1, v/v)溶液溶解,溶解液经N-丙基乙二胺(PSA)吸附剂、无水MgSO4、C18吸附剂净化后,直接进行GC-MS/MS测定,内标法定量。实验结果表明,49种农药在低质量浓度(0.05 μg/L)的加标水平下的平均加标回收率为60.4%～104.8%,高质量浓度(5 μg/L)的平均加标回收率为70%～115%,相对标准偏差均小于15%;其中16种农药的方法检出限(LOD)分别为0.01～0.03 μg/kg,其余33种农药的LOD均小于0.01 μg/kg;相关系数都大于或等于0.991。该方法样品前处理简单、分析时间短、灵敏度和精密度均符合农药多残留痕量检测技术的要求,适用于烟草中多种农药残留的检测。     

QuEChERS-液相色谱-串联质谱法测定蔬菜中105种农药残留

通过优化QuEChERS前处理方法并结合液相色谱-串联质谱（LC-MS/MS）技术建立了蔬菜中105种典型杀虫剂、杀菌剂、除草剂、植物生长调节剂的多残留测定方法。目标化合物使用乙腈提取,以150 mg乙二胺-N-丙基硅烷（PSA）、150 mg封端十八烷基键合硅胶吸附剂（EC-C₁₈）、30 mg石墨化炭黑（GCB）作为基质提取液净化剂。实验结果表明,在0.010~0.200 mg/L范围内,105种目标化合物的线性相关系数（r）>0.99,方法定量限为0.010 mg/kg;3个添加水平的回收率范围为68.2%~108%,相对标准偏差（RSD）为1.02%~11.8%。该方法快速简便,净化效果好,可用于蔬菜中日常农药残留的测定。     

气相色谱-串联质谱法测定水果中50种农药残留

建立了气相色谱-串联质谱测定水果中50种农药残留的分析方法。考察了无缓冲盐体系、乙酸盐缓冲体系和柠檬酸盐缓冲体系提取水果中50种农药的有效性,并对比了乙二胺-N-丙基硅烷（PSA）吸附剂净化和SinChERS-Nano柱净化两种净化方法。结果表明,存在缓冲盐体系的QuEChERS方法提取效果更好且两种缓冲盐体系无明显差别,最后选择乙酸盐缓冲体系;通过比较净化效果和总离子流色谱图,发现SinChERS-Nano柱净化的效果更好。对50种农药进行加标回收试验,发现甲胺磷、乙酰甲胺磷、氧化乐果、三氯杀螨醇、百菌清这5种农药回收率为71.2~129.2%,其他45种农药的回收率为79.1~122.3%。方法的检出限（LOD）为0.3~3.0 μ g/kg;定量限（LOQ）为1.0~10.0 μ g/kg。该方法适用于柑橘、葡萄等水果中50种农药残留的快速筛查分析。     

超高效液相色谱-电喷雾电离串联质谱联用法检测茶叶中阿维菌素类药物残留

建立了采用超高效液相色谱-电喷雾电离串联质谱同时检测茶叶中爱比菌素、甲胺基阿维菌素、乙酰胺基阿维菌素、伊维菌素、多拉菌素、莫西丁克残留的方法。试样经饱和氯化钠溶液浸润后,用乙腈提取,C18固相萃取小柱净化,超高效液相色谱-电喷雾串联质谱法(UPLC/ESI-MS/MS)测定。对流动相、监测离子、校正曲线等进行了优化和探讨。6种分析物在2.0～50 μg/L范围内线性关系良好,相关系数均大于0.9920。莫西丁克在5,10,20 μg/kg,其余分析物在2,5,10 μg/kg加标水平的平均回收率为61.7%～85.4%,相对标准偏差为9.37%～17.19%。该方法可靠、稳定,可满足茶叶中阿维菌素类药物残留检测与确证的需要。     

Differential isotope dansylation labeling combined with liquid chromatography mass spectrometry for quantification of intact and N-terminal truncated proteins

The N-terminal amino acids of proteins are important structure units for maintaining the biological function, localization, and interaction networks of proteins. Under different biological conditions, one or several N-terminal amino acids could be cleaved from an intact protein due to processes, such as proteolysis, resulting in the change of protein properties. Thus, the ability to quantify the N-terminal truncated forms of proteins is of great importance, particularly in the area of development and production of protein-based drugs where the relative quantity of the intact protein and its truncated form needs to be monitored. In this work, we describe a rapid method for absolute quantification of protein mixtures containing intact and N-terminal truncated proteins. This method is based on dansylation labeling of the N-terminal amino acids of proteins, followed by microwave-assisted acid hydrolysis of the proteins into amino acids. It is shown that dansyl labeled amino acids are stable in acidic conditions and can be quantified by liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC–MS) with the use of isotope analog standards.     

气相色谱-三重四极杆质谱法测定植物源性食品中20种拟除虫菊酯类农药残留

建立了气相色谱-三重四极杆质谱(GC-MS/MS)同时测定植物源性食品中20种拟除虫菊酯类农药残留量的方法。样品经丙酮-正己烷(1∶1,v/v)提取,活性炭小柱净化,外标法定量。目标物在0.005~1.0 mg/L范围内呈良好的线性相关,相关系数(r~2)均不小于0.990,方法的检出限(信噪比(S/N)3)均为2.0μg/kg,定量限(S/N10)均为5.0μg/kg。分别在11种基质中做低、中、高3个添加水平的加标回收试验,该方法的平均回收率为75.2%~107%,相对标准偏差(RSD,n=6)为3.08%~12.1%。该方法前处理步骤简便,特异性强,适用范围广,适用于植物源性食品中20种拟除虫菊酯类农药的筛查和确证。     

Liquid chromatography with time-of-flight mass spectrometry for simultaneous determination of chemotherapeutant residues in salmon

Liquid chromatography with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-TOF-MS) method has been developed for simultaneous confirmation by accurate mass measurement and quantitative determination of antibiotics (enrofloxacin, oxolinic acid, flumequine, erythromycin), fungicides (malachite green MG, leucomalachite green LMG) and parasiticide (emamectin benzoate) residues in edible portion of salmon. Confirmation of chemotherapeutant residues has been based on the system of identification points (IPs) established in the Commission Decision 2002/657/EC concerning the use of mass spectrometry (MS) techniques. A validation study on matrix is presented evaluating accuracy in terms of precision (λ_ppm 0.83-1.15) and trueness (0.22-0.70 Da). Limits of detection (LODs) and limits of quantification (LOQs) were in ranges of 1-3 and 3-9 μg/kg, below the maximum residue limits (MRLs) established in current EU legislation (100-200 μg/kg) for these chemotherapeutants. Considering the EU guidelines, decision limits (CCα) and detection capabilities (CCβ) were determined (ranges of 103-218 and 107-234 μg/kg, respectively) for authorised substances. For no authorised compounds (MG and LMG), LODs were 2 and 1 μg/kg, respectively, but exceed the MRPL (minimum required performance limit) established in the legislation which corresponds to the sum of MG and LMG (2 μg/kg). Acceptable intra-day and inter-day variability, in terms of relative standard deviation (R.S.D.) of the analytical method, were obtained (2-15%). Linearity was demonstrated from the LOQs of the analytes to 600 μg/kg (r > 0.9991). The method has involved an extraction procedure based on solid-liquid extraction (SLE) with recoveries higher than 80% for most target chemotherapeutants, with exception of enrofloxacin (40%).     

基于壳聚糖的QuEChERS-气相色谱-串联质谱法测定人参中30种农药残留

建立了一种以壳聚糖为净化材料的QuEChERS-气相色谱-串联质谱检测人参中30种农药残留的检测方法。探究了吸附剂及其用量对样品提取和净化效果的影响,确定壳聚糖为吸附剂净化。采用选择离子监测(SRM)模式,基质匹配标准曲线外标法定量。30种农药在各自的浓度范围内,线性关系良好(r> 0.996);检出限范围为1.5~3.0μg/kg,定量限范围为5.0~10.0μg/kg。3个添加水平(10,20,100μg/kg)的回收率在84.1%~113.7%之间,相对标准偏差均小于15%。该方法适用于检测人参中农药残留。     

气相色谱-飞行时间质谱法测定食用植物油中197种农药残留

建立了气相色谱-飞行时间质谱(GC-TOF-MS)同时测定食用植物油中197种农药残留的方法.样品经乙腈超声提取,冷冻除脂,C18和PSA吸附剂共同净化;目标物经HP-5MS UI毛细管柱(30 m×0.25 mm×0.25μm)分离,电子轰击源电离,全扫描模式采集质谱信息;MassHunter软件对数据进行定性与定量...     

液相色谱-串联四极杆质谱法测定牛奶中128种农药残留

建立了牛奶中128种农药残留的液相色谱-串联质谱检测方法。10 mL牛奶用20 mL乙腈(加4 g硫酸镁和1 g氯化钠)振荡提取两次,上清液浓缩后经C18固相萃取柱(2000 mg填料)净化以除去提取液中的亲脂性化合物等干扰杂质,洗脱液浓缩至约0.5 mL后,于45 ℃下用氮气吹干,加1 mL乙腈-水(体积比为3:2)定容,超声溶解30 s,经0.2 μm微孔滤膜过滤,液相色谱-电喷雾串联质谱测定。2倍检出限和8倍检出限两个添加水平的5次平行实验结果表明: 128种农药在低添加水平(0.14 μg/L～0.62 mg/L)下回收率范围为60.4%～118.4%,相对标准偏差为2.1%～24.3%;高添加水平(0.56 μg/L～2.48 mg/L)下的回收率范围为64.4%～118.5%,相对标准偏差为1.3%～24.1%。各种农药在确定的添加范围内线性关系良好,相关系数高于0.99,方法的检出限(LOD)为0.07 μg/L～0.31 mg/L。该方法通用性强、选择性好、灵敏度高,快速简便。     

高分辨质谱技术在农药残留检测中的应用

农药残留检测是农产品中有害物质控制的重要组成部分,随着农药残留限量标准体系的发展完善,农药残留检测方法也在不断进步。近年来质谱技术发展迅速,已被广泛应用于农药残留检测领域,高分辨质谱由于具有较高的分辨率和质量精确度,在复杂基质的农药多残留高通量检测中发挥着越来越重要的作用。本文从高分辨质谱与液相色谱、气相色谱及其他分离模式联用等方面出发,简述了近5年来高分辨质谱在农药残留检测中的应用,对目前高分辨质谱在农药残留检测应用中发现的问题进行了讨论,并对其未来发展趋势进行展望。     

Immunoaffinity chromatographic and immunoprecipitation methods combined with mass spectrometry for characterization of circulating transthyretin

Transthyretin (TTR) is a small serum protein that is involved in distinct phenotypes of amyloidosis with different tissue localization, age of onset, and rate of progression. Some types of TTR-amyloidosis (such as familial amyloid polyneuropathy) are associated with various amino acid point mutations, while cardiac amyloid myopathy may also be associated with precipitation of the wild-type molecules, e.g., in senile systemic amyloidosis. Because of the unsettled relationship between circulating and precipitated TTR we here explore on-line immunoaffinity (IA) chromatography-MS and immunoprecipitation (IP)-MS methods for characterizing the circulating TTR population in normal individuals and in patients with known TTR-amyloidosis. It was found necessary to reduce the samples, e.g., with DTT, prior to ESI-TOF-MS. This reversed oxidative modifications to sufficiently resolve the two mass peaks isolated from sera of heterozygous patients. A simple IP technique without the use of centrifugal filtration was found to be convenient for the assessment of the TTR population in serum as demonstrated for both normal and variant (the Met111Leu mutation) TTR. This approach also readily allowed the identification of oxidation, S-sulfation, and S-cysteinylation in unreduced samples, while these modifications were less well resolved in the on-line IA chromatography-MS approach.     

Derivatisation of arginine residues with malondialdehyde for the analysis of peptides and protein digests by LC-ESI-MS/MS

In this study a selective tagging strategy for the derivatisation of arginine residues in peptides is presented. It is based on the reaction of the guanidine group of the arginine side-chain with malondialdehyde (MDA) under strongly acidic conditions, in which a stable pyrimidine ring is formed. The reaction conditions have been optimised so that quantitative modification can be achieved for a variety of peptides. The label has a strong influence on the polarity and basicity of the arginine side-chain and thus on the chromatographic and mass spectrometric properties of arginine-containing peptides. For example, retention, particularly of small and polar peptides as well as arginine-rich peptides, is significantly increased by derivatisation, and therefore sensitivity is also enhanced in liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). The arginine side-chain also has a strong impact on the fragmentation behaviour of peptides in tandem mass spectrometry. This has been investigated for standard peptides for which, in some cases, significantly more fragment ions were formed after derivatisation. Finally, the method was tested for tryptic digests of standard proteins to demonstrate how the tagging strategy can give improved or complementary information for protein identification.     

Critical review of the application of liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry to the determination of pesticide residues in biological samples

A critical review is made on the use of hyphenated liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC–MS) for the identification and quantification of pesticides and their metabolites in human biosamples (whole blood, plasma, serum and urine). The first applications of LC–MS in this field began in the early 1990s. Since then, increasing interest has been shown in applying this powerful technique, with most applications dealing with the determination of a variety of chemically diverse metabolites in urine. The use of different LC–MS interfaces and mass spectral detection modes are discussed. Special attention is given to tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) due to its inherent advantages of increased sensitivity and selectivity, as well as its advantages for identification and confirmation of analytes in samples. Quantification can be severely affected by matrix effects, the most common being inhibition of the ionisation of analytes in the mass spectrometer, which leads to unacceptable errors if no correction is made. Different approaches can be employed to minimise this undesirable matrix effect, the preferred being the use of labelled internal standards (when available) in isotope dilution methods or the application of an efficient clean-up, performed off-line or automated on-line. Adequate criteria for confirming the identities of residues detected are required in order to avoid false positives. The criterion most commonly used with a triple quadrupole instrument is the monitoring of two MS/MS transitions together with the ion abundance ratio. TOF mass analysers are seldom used in pesticide residue analysis despite their improved resolution and mass accuracy characteristics, which makes them very suitable for confirmation purposes. The main reasons for the relative unpopularity of TOF MS in residue analysis are its limited sensitivity and its high acquisition cost. In this paper, we present a critical assessment on current techniques, trends and future developments, and give illustrative examples to point out the main characteristics of LC–MS for pesticide residue analysis in biological fluids.