Synthesis of zwitterionic polymer brushes hybrid silica nanoparticles via controlled polymerization for highly efficient enrichment of glycopeptides

Zwitterionic hydrophilic interaction chromatography (ZIC-HILIC) materials have been increasingly attractive in glycopeptide enrichment. However, the traditional ZIC-HILIC materials are modified with monolayer zwitterionic molecules on the surface, therefore, the hydrophilicity, detection sensitivity and loading capacity are limited. In this work, we synthesized novel silica nanoparticles with uniform poly(2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl)dimethyl-(3-sul-fopropyl)ammonium hydroxide (PMSA) brushes grafted onto the surface via reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization (denoted as SiO₂-RAFT@PMSA). The resulting SiO₂-RAFT@PMSA nanoparticles demonstrated low detection limit (10 fmol) and high recovery yield (over 88%) for glycopeptide enrichment from tryptic digest of human IgG. The SiO₂-RAFT@PMSA nanoparticles were further applied for the analysis of mouse liver glycoproteome, a total number of 303 unique N-glycosylation sites corresponding to 185 glycoproteins was reliably profiled in three replicate nano-LC–MS/MS runs. Significantly, more glycopeptides were identified than those of nanoparticles, monolayer MSA molecules modified SiO₂@single-MSA and nonuniform multi-layer PMSA brushes coated SiO₂@PMSA, as well as commercial ZIC@HILIC beads and Click Maltose beads. The excellent performance of SiO₂-RAFT@PMSA nanoparticles results from the non-fouling property, a large quantity of functional molecules and suitable link arms provided by uniform PMSA brushes, as well as efficient interaction between glycopeptides and uniform PMSA brushes. It is concluded that the synthesized SiO₂-RAFT@PMSA nanoparticles exhibit great potential in glycoproteome analysis. Moreover, this strategy to modify nanopaticles with uniform polymer brushes via RAFT polymerization can also be explored to design other types of materials for bioseparation application.     

One-pot synthesis of magnetic colloidal nanocrystal clusters coated with chitosan for selective enrichment of glycopeptides

Selective enrichment of glycopeptides prior to the mass spectrometry (MS) analysis is essential due to ion suppression effect during ionization caused by the co-presence of non-glycosylated peptides. Among the enrichment approaches, hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) based on magnetic separation has become a popular method in recent years. As the conventional synthesis procedures of these materials are tedious and time-consuming with at least four steps. Herein, magnetic colloidal nanocrystal clusters coated with chitosan (Fe₃O₄@CS MCNCs) have been successfully prepared by a simple one-pot method. The resulting Fe₃O₄@CS MCNCs demonstrated an excellent ability for glycopeptide enrichment with high selectivity, low detection limit and high binding capacity. Furthermore, in the analysis of real complicated biological sample, 283 unique N-glycosylation sites corresponding to 175 glycosylated proteins were identified in three replicate analyses of 45 μg protein sample extracted from HeLa cells, indicating the great potential in detection and identification of low abundant glycopeptides in glycoproteome analysis.     

Click novel glycosyl amino acid hydrophilic interaction chromatography stationary phase and its application in enrichment of glycopeptides

A novel glycosyl amino acid hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC) stationary phase was prepared via click chemistry. The key intermediate N₃-glycosyl d-phenylglycine was prepared by a three steps procedure, including selective condensation of amino glucose with N-succinimidyl ester of Boc-d-phenylglycine, deprotection and transformation of amino group to azido group. The structure of all the intermediates and functionalized silica beads were confirmed by ¹H NMR, IR, elemental analysis and ¹³C CP-MAS. The chromatography test showed that this new type of separation material possessed good HILIC properties and glycopeptide enrichment characteristics. Nucleosides and bases could be separated in a simple eluent composition (only acetonitrile in combined with water), and with the same condition, these model compounds could not be separated on the commercial HILIC column (Atlantis). Click glycosyl amino acid thus prepared also showed longer retention and better separation ability in the separation of polar organic acids.     

Facile preparation of hydrophilic glutathione modified magnetic nanomaterials for specific enrichment of glycopeptides

Investigations of glycosylated proteins or peptides and their related biological pathways provide new possibilities for illuminating the physiological and pathological mechanisms of glycosylation modification. However, open-ended and in-depth analysis of glycoproteomics is usually subjected to the low-abundance of glycopeptides, heterogeneous glycans, and a variety of interference molecules. In order to alleviate the influence of these obstacles, effective preconcentration of glycopeptides are indispensable. Here, we employed a hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC)-based method to universally capture glycopeptides. Glutathione modified magnetic nanoparticles (Fe₃O₄@Au-GSH) were synthesized through a simple process and exploited to enrich glycopeptides from complex samples. The prepared materials showed excellent ability to trap glycopeptides from standard glycoproteins digests, low detection limit (10 fmol/μL), and good selectivity (HRP:BSA = 1:100). These results indicated that glutathione-based magnetic nanoparticles synthesized in this work had great potential for glycopeptides enrichment.     

Facile preparation of hydrophilic glutathione modified magnetic nanomaterials for specific enrichment of glycopeptides

Glutathione modified magnetic nanoparticles (Fe₃O₄@Au-GSH) were synthesized through a simple process and exploited to enrich glycopeptides from complex samples.     

Facile synthesis of Ti4+‐immobilized affinity silica nanoparticles for the highly selective enrichment of intact phosphoproteins

Currently, great challenges to top‐down phosphoproteomics lie in the selective enrichment of intact phosphoproteins from complex biological samples. Herein, we developed a facile approach for synthesis of Ti⁴⁺‐immobilized affinity silica nanoparticles and applied them to the selective separation and enrichment of intact phosphoproteins based upon the principle of metal(IV) phosphate/phosphonate chemistry. The as‐prepared affinity materials exhibited high selectivity and adsorption capacities for model phosphoproteins (328.9 mg/g for β‐casein, 280.5 mg/g for ovalbumin, and 225.8 mg/g for α‐casein), compared with nonphosphoproteins (79.28 mg/g for horseradish peroxidase, 72.70 mg/g for BSA, and 27.28 mg/g for lysozyme). In addition, the resuability of the affinity silica nanoparticles was evaluated, and the results demonstrated a less than 10% loss of adsorption capacity after six adsorption–regeneration cycles. The practicability of the affinity materials was demonstrated by separating phosphoproteins from protein mixtures and drinking milk samples, and the satisfactory results indicated its potential in phosphoproteomics analysis.     

Selective enrichment of glycopeptides for mass spectrometry analysis using C18 fractionation and titanium dioxide chromatography

Comprehensive glycoprotein characterization based on mass spectrometry (MS) is challenging because of low concentration of glycopeptides and suppression effect of abundant non-glycosylated peptides in MS. Therefore, it is vital to enrich glycopeptides before MS analysis. A new method was developed to selectively enrich glycopeptides from complex sample by coupling C18 fractionation with titanium dioxide (TiO(2)) enrichment. The new method allows to selectively enrich N-linked glycopeptides with various glycan forms and different sequence lengths. Compared with single TiO(2) method, the established method demonstrated higher glycopeptide selectivity and higher glycosylation heterogeneity coverage. Further application of this method to mixture of non-glycosylated protein and glycoprotein digests at different levels reveals the feasibility of enrichment of tryptic glycopeptides from simple proteomics samples.     

两性离子双功能化超亲水金属有机框架纳米复合材料的制备及其用于糖肽的选择性富集

蛋白糖基化是生物体中普遍发生且重要的生物学过程,其参与多种分子生物学的功能和途径,是临床诊断重要的生物标志物.但是,糖肽因其丰度低、离子化效率低、糖链异质性等难点,使糖蛋白分析一直面临巨大的挑战.因此,研究合成了一种新型的两性离子双功能化纳米金(AuGC)修饰的超亲水性沸石咪唑骨架(ZIF-8)纳米复合材料(AuGC/...     

On-line solid-phase extraction coupled to hydrophilic interaction chromatography-mass spectrometry for the determination of polar drugs

The present study describes the first fully automated method based on on-line solid-phase extraction (SPE) coupled to hydrophilic interaction chromatography-electrospray-mass spectrometry (HILIC-(ESI)MS) to determine a group of polar drugs that includes illicit drugs (such as cocaine, morphine, codeine and metabolites) and pharmaceuticals in environmental water samples. The SPE was performed using a highly retentive polymeric sorbent. The HILIC separation was optimised and the initial high organic content of the chromatographic mobile phase, was also suitable for the proper on-line elution of the analytes retained in the SPE column and for enhancing the ESI ionisation efficiency. This method allows the loading of samples of up to 250ml of ultrapure water or 10ml of environmental water samples spiked at low ngl(-1) levels of the analytes. The method yields near 100% recoveries for all the analytes. The method was also validated with environmental water samples with linear ranges from 5 to 1000ngl(-1) and limits of detection ≤2ngl(-1) for most of the compounds.     

Titanium dioxide nanoparticle coating of polymethacrylate-based chromatographic monoliths for phosphopetides enrichment

Metal oxide affinity chromatography has been one of the approaches for specific enrichment of phosphopeptides from complex samples, based on specific phosphopeptide adsorption forming bidentate chelates between phosphate anions and the surface of a metal oxide, such as TiO₂, ZrO₂, Fe₂O₃, and Al₂O₃. Due to convective mass transfer, flow-independent resolution and high dynamic binding capacity, monolith chromatographic supports have become important in studies where high resolution and selectivity are required. Here, we report the first synthesis and characterization of immobilisation of rutile TiO₂ nanoparticles onto organic monolithic chromatographic support (CIM-OH-TiO₂). We demonstrate the specificity of CIM-OH-TiO₂ column for enrichment of phosphopeptides by studying chromatographic separation of model phosphorylated and nonphosphorylated peptides as well as proving the phosphopeptide enrichment of digested bovine α-casein. The work described here opens the possibility for a faster, more selective enrichment of phosphopeptides from biological samples that will enable future advances in studying protein phosphorylation.     

Analysis of highly polar metabolites in human plasma by ultra-performance hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole-time of flight mass spectrometry

Highly polar metabolites are abundant in human plasma. Analysis of these compounds by standard reverse-phase chromatography is difficult. Highly polar metabolites were extracted by a two-step method. They were analyzed by ultra-performance hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC) coupled to quadrupole-time of flight mass spectrometer detection technology. The middle and low polar fraction were also analyzed using a standard C18 column. Data were extracted by Markerlynx, and analyzed by multivariate statistical methods to discriminate human plasma samples by sex and age. The results not only showed good classification of samples by sex and age, but also revealed new potential biomarkers not revealed by standard RPLC/MS analysis. This study showed that HILIC is an effective technique to analyze highly polar metabolites for metabonomic studies.     

Bi-amino acid functionalized biomimetic honeycomb chitosan membrane as a multifunctional hydrophilic probe for specific capture of N-linked glycopeptides in nasopharyngeal carcinoma's disease patient's serum

In this work, a novel porous bifunctionalized composite material was synthesized via a simple method. Gold nanoparticles are uniformly dispersed on the surface of the biomimetic honeycomb chitosan membrane through the interaction between amino and Au, and then cysteine and glutathione are successfully grafted onto the surface of the Au by the Au-S bond. The modification of cysteine and glutathione makes this bifunctionalized composite material have significant advantages of superhydrophilicity and small steric hindrance simultaneously. This material manifests excellent property in glycopeptides enrichment, with high selectivity (1:5000), low detection limit (0.1 fmol·μL^–1), high recovery rate (99.4 ± 0.5%), and good repeatability. In addition, with the help of nano-flow liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry, this composite achieved excellent performance in efficiently enriching glycopeptides in the serum of healthy people and nasopharyngeal carcinoma's disease patient. More excitingly, further gene ontology analysis of molecular function and biological process indicated that 41 original glycoproteins of the identified glycopeptides from serum of nasopharyngeal carcinoma's disease patient significantly partake in numerous cancer-associated events, including protease binding, calcium ion binding, enzyme binding, extracellular matrix organization, cellular response to tumor necrosis factor, and inflammatory response.     

Synthesis of adenosine functionalized metal immobilized magnetic nanoparticles for highly selective and sensitive enrichment of phosphopeptides

A new type of IMAC material, with ATP as the chelating ligand, was synthesized and applied to capture phosphopeptides. For the first time, the approach for phosphopeptide enrichment could provide selectivity under 5000-fold dilution by nonphosphopeptides, and sensitivity of on-target enrichment at 3 amol.     

Nonionic surfactant‐capped gold nanoparticles for selective enrichment of aminothiols prior to CE with UV absorption detection

In this study, we describe the use of Tween 20‐capped gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) as selective probes for the extraction of aminothiols from an aqueous solution. Tween 20 molecules noncovalently attached to the surface of AuNPs to form Tween 20–AuNPs were used for the selective extraction of aminothiols through the formation of Au–S bonds. After extraction and centrifugation, the aminothiols were detached from the surface of the AuNPs by adding DTT in a high concentration. We used this probe in combination with CE and UV absorption detection. On‐line concentration and separation of the released aminothiols were performed by using 1.6% v/v poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) as an additive in CE. Under optimal extraction and stacking conditions, the LOD at a S/N of 3 were 28, 554, and 456 nM for glutathione (GSH), cysteine (Cys), and homocysteine (HCys), respectively. In comparison with the normal injection without the extraction procedure, approximately 2280‐, 998‐, and 904‐fold improvements in the sensitivity were observed for GSH, Cys, and HCys, respectively. We have validated the application of our method on the basis of the analysis of GSH and HCys in human urine samples. It is believed that this approach has significant potential to be extended to clinical diagnosis.     

Carbon nanoparticles from corn stalk soot and its novel application as stationary phase of hydrophilic interaction chromatography and per aqueous liquid chromatography

Carbon nanoparticles (CNPs) (6–18 nm in size) were prepared by refluxing corn stalk soot in nitric acid. The obtained acid-oxidized CNPs are soluble in water due to the existence of carboxylic and hydroxyl groups. ¹³C NMR measurement shows the CNPs are mainly of sp² and sp³ carbon structure different from CNPs obtained from candle soot and natural gas soot. Furthermore, these CNPs exhibit unique photoluminescence properties. Interestingly, the CNPs might be exploited to immobilize on the surface of porous silica particles as chromatographic stationary phase. The resultant packing material was evaluated by high-performance liquid chromatography, indicating that the new stationary phase could be used in hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) and per aqueous liquid chromatography (PALC) modes. The separation of five nucleosides, four sulfa compounds and safflower injection was achieved by using the new column in the HILIC and PALC modes, respectively.     

Poly(amidoamine) dendrimer‐coated magnetic nanoparticles for the fast purification and selective enrichment of glycopeptides and glycans

Glycosylated proteins modulate various important functions of organisms. To reveal the functions of glycoproteins, in‐depth characterization studies are necessary. Although mass spectrometry is a very efficient tool for glycoproteomic and glycomic studies, efficient sample preparation methods are required prior to analyses. In the study, poly(amidoamine) dendrimer‐coated magnetic nanoparticles were presented for the specific enrichment and fast purification of glycopeptides and glycans. The enrichment and purification performance of the developed method was evaluated both at the glycopeptide, and the glycan level using several standard glycoprotein digests and released glycan samples. The poly(amidoamine) dendrimer‐coated magnetic nanoparticles not only showed selective affinity (Immunoglobulin G/Bovine Serum Albumin, 1/10 by weight) to glycopeptides and released glycans but also good sensitivity (0.4 ng/µL for Immunoglobulin G) for glycoproteomic and glycomic applications. Thirty‐five glycopeptides of Immunoglobulin G were detected after enrichment with poly(amidoamine) dendrimer‐coated magnetic nanoparticles. In addition, 55 ¹⁸O tagged deamidated glycopeptides belonging to human plasma glycoproteome were confirmed. Finally, fifty 2‐aminobenzoic acid, and 30 procainamide‐labelled human plasma N‐glycans released from human plasma glycoproteins were determined after purifications. The results indicate that the proposed enrichment and purification method using poly(amidoamine) dendrimer‐coated magnetic nanoparticles could be simply adjusted to sample preparation methods.     

Selective enrichment of N‐linked glycopeptides and glycans by using a dextran‐modified hydrophilic material

Glycosylation analysis of proteins from biological sources utilizing mass spectrometry based approaches is challenging due to the relatively low abundance of glycopeptides, the structural diversity of glycans, and the coexisting matrices. In this study, a customized dextran‐bonded silica‐based stationary phase was introduced for selective enrichment of glycopeptides and glycans from complex biological samples. This material has exhibited superior selectivity and broader glycosylation site coverage over commercial Sepharose in glycoproteomic evaluation. Additionally, the glycomic analysis of fetuin, α₁‐acid glycoprotein, and human serum N‐glycome also indicated the relatively higher sensitivity, selectivity, and glycoform coverage of dextran‐bonded silica than that of Sepharose and porous graphitized carbon. Therefore, the dextran‐bonded silica is expected to make contributions in the fields of glycoproteomics and glycomics.     

Preparation of a monolith functionalized with zinc oxide nanoparticles and its application in the enrichment of fluoroquinolone antibiotics

This study describes the enrichment ability of ZnO‐modified methacrylic acid‐co‐ethylene dimethacrylate polymer monoliths as stationary phases for the simultaneous determination of antibiotics (ofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, enoxacin, and pefloxacin) combined with high‐performance liquid chromatography. The prepared monolith was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Fourier‐transformed infrared spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis. The polymer monolith microextraction method has been applied to the enrichment of fluoroquinolone antibiotics and satisfactory results were obtained in the analysis of water samples. Compared with the conventional methacrylic acid based monolith, the developed monolith exhibited a higher enrichment capacity because of the introduction of zinc oxide into the preparation process.     

Structure elucidation of highly polar basic degradants by on-line hydrogen/deuterium exchange hydrophilic interaction chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry

A hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) method was used to separate a commonly used pharmaceutical starting material, 4-aminomethylpyridine (4-AMP), and its degradants. The structures of the major degradants were characterized and elucidated without prior isolation by accurate mass measurement, MS/MS analysis and on-line hydrogen/deuterium (H/D) exchange experiments. The mass spectra obtained from H/D exchange experiments are particularly useful to differentiate structural isomers, to elucidate the fragmentation pathways, and to aid in structure elucidation in the absence of MS/MS fragmentation information. The impact of deuterium oxide and temperature on HILIC separation has also been explored here. The integration of H/D exchange with HILIC has been described here for the first time and has been demonstrated to be a powerful structure elucidation tool via the study of degradants in 4-AMP.     

Investigation of polar stationary phases for the separation of sympathomimetic drugs with nano-liquid chromatography in hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography mode

In this study, the retention and selectivity of a mixture of basic polar drugs were investigated in hydrophilic interaction chromatographic conditions (HILIC) using nano-liquid chromatography (nano-LC). Six sympathomimetic drugs including ephedrine, norephedrine, synephrine, epinephrine, norepinephrine and norphenylephrine were separated by changing experimental parameters such as stationary phase, acetonitrile (ACN) content, buffer pH and concentration, column temperature. Four polar stationary phases (i.e. cyano-, diol-, aminopropyl-silica and Luna HILIC, a cross-linked diol phase) were selected and packed into fused silica capillary columns of 100 μm internal diameter (i.d.). Among the four stationary phases investigated a complete separation of the all studied compounds was achieved with aminopropyl silica and Luna HILIC stationary phases only. Best chromatographic results were obtained employing a mobile phase composed by ACN/water (92/8, v/v) containing 10 mM ammonium formate buffer pH 3. The influence of the capillary temperature on the resolution of the polar basic drugs was investigated in the range between 10 and 50 °C. Linear correlation of ln k vs. 1/T was observed for all the columns; ΔH° values were negative with Luna HILIC and positive with aminopropyl- and diol-silica stationary phases, demonstrating that different mechanisms were involved in the separation.To compare the chromatographic performance of the different columns, Van Deemter curves were also investigated.