Simultaneous determination of eight biologically active thiol compounds using gradient elution-liquid chromatography with Coul-Array detection

The most active form of sulfur in biomolecules is the thiol group, present in a number of biologically active compounds. Here we present a comprehensive study of thiol analysis using flow injection analysis/HPLC with electrochemical detection. The effect of different potentials of working electrodes, of organic solvent contents in the mobile phase, and of isocratic and gradient elution on simultaneous determination of thiol compounds (cysteine, cystine, N-acetylcysteine, homocysteine, reduced and oxidised glutathione, desglycinephytochelatin, and phytochelatins) are described and discussed. These thiol compounds were well separated and detected under optimised HPLC-electrochemical detection conditions (mobile phase: 80 mM trifluoroacetic acid and methanol with a gradient profile starting at 97:3 (TFA:methanol), kept constant for the first 8 min, then decreasing to 85:15 during one minute, kept constant for 8 min, and finally increasing linearly up to 97:3 from 17 to 18 min; the flow rate was 0.8 mL/min, column and detector temperature 25 degrees C, and the electrode potential 900 mV). We were able to determine tens of femtomoles (3 S/N) of the thiols per injection (5 microL), except for phytochelatin5 whose detection limit was 2.1 pmole. This technique was consequently used for simultaneous determination of compounds of interest in biological samples (maize tissue and human blood serum).     

Characterization of Hg(II) binding with different length phytochelatins using liquid chromatography and amperometric detection

A simple and rapid methodology is optimised to analyse mixtures of different phytochelatins (PC(n), n=2-5) with Hg(II) by HPLC with amperometric detection as a first step towards the analysis of extracts of plants stressed with Hg(II). The separation was achieved in a C(18) column with a mobile phase of 0.1% trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) in water and 0.1% TFA in acetonitrile using gradient elution. Electrochemical detection with glassy carbon electrode and UV-vis detection were used in series. This methodology can clearly distinguish between the free peptides and their complexes and permits to study the evolution of the different complexes formed and predicts the possible interactions between the long chain phytochelatin complexes. ESI-MS is used as a complementary technique to find out the stoichiometries of such long chain phytochelatin complexes.     

Simultaneous analysis of oxidized and reduced glutathione in cell extracts by capillary zone electrophoresis

Glutathione (GSH) and glutathione disulfide (GSSG) levels in cells constitute a thiol redox system. They can be used as an indicator of oxidative stress of the cell. In this study, a capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) method is described that enables quantitation of GSH and GSSG from cellular extracts. The CZE buffer used was 20 mM ammonium acetate containing 5% (v/v) acetic acid at pH 3.1 in conjunction with a polybrene coated capillary operated in reverse polarity mode. Effects of different acids used to prepare cell samples were investigated on CZE performance. The acids include meta phosphoric acid (MPA), trichloroacetic acid (TCA), phosphoric acid (PA) and sulfosalicylic acid (SSA) and are used to stabilize GSH and GSSG before performing CZE analysis. The method features a limit of detection of 4 microM and a limit of quantitation of 12 microM for both GSSG and GSH and recoveries of 94% for GSH and 100% for GSSG. Quantitative analysis of GSSG and GSH in HaCaT cell extracts (5% SSA, w/v) was performed with this method and changes in the ratio of GSH to GSSG in N-ethylmaleimide treated cell sample was observed by comparing with control cell samples.     

Quantitation of oxidized and reduced glutathione in plasma by micellar electrokinetic capillary electrophoresis.

A method for the separation of reduced (GSH) and oxidized (GSSG) glutathione was optimized in terms of buffer concentration, sodium dodecyl sulfate concentration, buffer pH, detection wavelength, run voltage and injection volume. The method demonstrated good linearity (r2 > 0.999) and reproducibility (internal standard corrected peak area RSD < 2.3%) in the range of interest (16-81 microM GSH and 8-40 microM GSSG). A detection limit of less than 1 microM GSH and GSSG was obtained using a high sensitivity flow cell. When the optimized method was applied to plasma samples, concentrations of 1.6 microM GSH and 0.8 microM GSSG were easily detected without the need for derivatization. The on-capillary detection was calculated to be 38.6 fmol of GSH and 18.3 fmol of GSSG.     

Profiling the Concentration of Reduced and Oxidized Glutathione in Rat Brain Using HPLC/DAD Chromatographic System

This study aimed to develop a HPLC/DAD method in order to determine and quantify the reduced glutathione (GSH) and oxidized glutathione (GSSG) levels in rat brain. Due to the presence of the thiol group (-SH), GSH can interact with the Ellman′s reagent (DTNB), with which it forms a reaction product through which the level of GSH can be quantified, using the DAD detection system. Chromatographic separation was achieved after a derivatization process by using a mobile phase acetonitrile (A) and phosphate buffer (20 mM, pH = 2.5) (B). The compounds of interest were detected at 330 nm using a chromatographic C8 column. The method of determination met the validation criteria, specified by the regulatory bodies. The applicability of the method was demonstrated in a chronic toxicology study of central nervous system (CNS), following different treatment regimens with haloperidol.     

柱前衍生高效液相色谱-荧光检测法测定水稻中7种巯基化合物

建立了水稻中半胱氨酸(Cys)、谷胱甘肽(GSH)和植物螯合肽(phytochelatin, PC:PC₂、PC₃、PC₄、PC₅、PC₆)7种巯基化合物的柱前衍生高效液相色谱-荧光检测分析方法.样品经0.1%三氟乙酸(TFA)(含6.3 mmol/L二乙烯三胺五乙酸(DTPA))超声提取,然后以单溴二胺(mBrB)为衍生剂在pH 8.0的4-羟乙基哌嗪丙磺酸(HEPPS)缓冲溶液中衍生化.采用的色谱分离柱为Agilent Eclipse plus C_l8柱,流动相为0.1%TFA(pH 2.5)和100%乙腈(ACN),梯度洗脱,流速为0.8 mL/min.荧光检测的激发波长和发射波长分别为380 nm和470 nm.结果表明,7种巯基化合物在0.7~100.0 mg/L范围内,峰面积与质量浓度之间的线性关系良好(r²≥0.9991);检出限为0.03~0.20 mg/L;加标回收率为89.26%~99.42%,相对标准偏差为2.05%~5.87%.该方法准确、灵敏度高、重现性好,为水稻中巯基化合物的研究提供了检测手段.     

A spectrofluorimetric method for cysteine and glutathione using the fluorescence system of Zn(II)-8-hydroxyquinoline-5-sulphonic acid complex.

The addition of thiol compounds to the fluorescence system of Zn(II)-8-hydroxyquinoline-5-sulphonic acid complex (Zn(II)-HQS) in H3BO3-Na2B4O7 buffer (pH 8.50) solution led to immediate fluorescence inhibition, which was proportional to their amounts. Based on this finding, a novel spectrofluorimetric method for the determination of cysteine (Cys) and reduced glutathione (GSH) has been developed. The detection limits were 17 ng ml(-1) and 0.6 microg ml(-1), respectively. Most amino acids had no interference at high concentrations. The proposed method has been applied to the determination of Cys in protein hydrolysate and cystine electrolyte, and GSH in human blood serum with recoveries of 95.6-104.5%.     

Kinetics and Equilibria of the Thiol/Disulfide Exchange Reactions of Somatostatin with Glutathione

Rate and equilibrium constants are reported for the thiol/disulfide exchange reactions of the peptide hormone somatostatin with glutathione (GSH). GSH reacts with the disulfide bond of somatostatin to form somatostatin-glutathione mixed disulfides (Cys(3)-SH, Cys(14)-SSG and Cys(3)-SSG, Cys(14)-SH), each of which can react with another molecule of GSH to give the reduced dithiol form of somatostatin and GSSG. The mixed disulfides also can undergo intramolecular thiol/disulfide exchange reactions to re-form the disulfide bond of somatostatin or to interconvert to the other mixed disulfide. Analysis of the forward and reverse rate constants indicates that, at physiological concentrations of GSH, the intramolecular thiol/disulfide exchange reactions that re-form the disulfide bond of somatostatin are much faster than reaction of the mixed disulfides with another molecule of GSH, even though the intramolecular reaction involves closure of a 38-membered ring. Thus, even though the disulfide bond of somatostatin is readily cleaved by thiol/disulfide exchange, it is rapidly reformed by intramolecular thiol/disulfide exchange reactions of the somatostatin-glutathione mixed disulfides. By comparison with rate constants reported for analogous reactions of model peptides measured under random coil conditions, it is concluded that disulfide bond formation by intramolecular thiol/disulfide exchange in the somatostatin-glutathione mixed disulfides is not completely random, but rather it is directed to some extent by conformational properties of the mixed disulfides that place the thiol and mixed disulfide groups in close proximity. A reduction potential of -0.221 V was calculated for the disulfide bond of somatostatin from the thiol/disulfide exchange equilibrium constant.     

A new HPLC method for the simultaneous determination of ascorbic acid and aminothiols in human plasma and erythrocytes using electrochemical detection

A new, simple, economical and validated high-performance liquid chromatography linked with electrochemical detector (HPLC-ECD) method has been developed and optimized for different experimental parameters to analyze the most common monothiols and disulfide (cystine, cysteine, homocysteine, methionine, reduced (GSH) and oxidized glutathione (GSSG)) and ascorbic acid present in human plasma and erythrocytes using dopamine as internal standard (IS). Complete separation of all the targets analytes and IS at 35 °C on Discovery HS C18 RP column (250 mm × 4.6 mm, 5 μm) was achieved using 0.05% TFA:methanol (97:3, v/v) as a mobile phase pumped at the rate of 0.6 ml min⁻¹ using electrochemical detector in DC mode at the detector potential of 900 mV. The limits of detection (3 S/N) and limits of quantification (10 S/N) of the studied compounds were evaluated using dilution method. The proposed method was validated according to standard guidelines and optimization of various experimental parameters and chromatographic conditions was carried out. The optimized and validated HPLC-ECD method was successfully applied for the determination of the abovementioned compounds in human plasma and erythrocytes. The method will be quite suitable for the determination of plasma and erythrocyte profile of ascorbic acid and aminothiols in oxidative stress and other basic research studies.     

A sensitive and selective detection method for thiol compounds using novel fluorescence probe

In this work, a sensitive and selective detection method based on fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) was developed for analyzing thiol compounds by using a novel fluorescent probe. The new fluorescent probe contains a disulfide bond which selectively reacts with nucleophilic thiolate through the thiol-disulfide exchange reaction. An obvious fluorescence recovery can be observed upon addition of the thiol compound in the fluorescent probe solution due to the thiol-disulfide exchange reaction and the destruction of FRET. This novel probe was successfully used to determine dithiothreitol (DTT), glutathione (GSH) and cysteine (Cys). The limits of detection (LOD) were 2.0 μM for DTT, 0.6 μM for GSH, and 0.8 μM for Cys. This new detection method was further investigated in the analysis of compound amino acid injection.     

Enzymatic rotating biosensor for cysteine and glutathione determination in a FIA system

The high sensitivity that can be attained using an enzymatic system and mediated by catechols has been verified by on-line interfacing of a rotating biosensor and continuous flow/stopped-flow/continuous-flow processing. Horseradish peroxidase, HRP, [EC 1.11.1.7], immobilized on a rotating disk, in presence of hydrogen peroxide catalyzed the oxidation of catechols, whose back electrochemical reduction was detected on glassy carbon electrode surface at −150 mV. Thus, when l-cysteine (Cys) or glutathione (GSH) was added to the solution, these thiol-containing compounds participate in Michael addition reactions with catechols to form the corresponding thioquinone derivatives, decreasing the peak current obtained proportionally to the increase of its concentration. Cys was used as the model thiol-containing compound for the study. The highest response for Cys was obtained around pH 7. This method could be used to determine Cys concentration in the range 0.05-90 μM (r = 0.998) and GSH concentration in the range 0.04-90 μM (r = 0.999). The determination of Cys and GSH were possible with a limit of detection of 0.7 and 0.3 nM, respectively, in the processing of as many as 25 samples per hour. Current response of the HRP-rotating biosensor is not affected by the oxidized form of GSH and Cys (glutathione disulfide, GSSG, and l-cystine, respectively), by sulfur-containing and alkyl-amino compounds such as methionine and lysine, respectively. The interferences from easily oxidizable species such as ascorbic acid and uric acid are lowest.     

High-performance liquid chromatography/chemiluminescence determination of biological thiols with N-[4-(6-dimethylamino-2-benzofuranyl)phenyl]maleimide

The peroxyoxalate chemiluminescence detection of biological thiols combined with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is described. SH groups of the thiol compounds including glutathione (GSH), cysteine, N-acetylcysteine, cysteamine, and D-penicillamine were labelled with N-[4-(6-dimethylamino-2-benzofuranyl)phenyl]maleimide (DBPM), a specific fluorogenic reagent for SH group. The labelling reaction was carried out at 60 degrees C for 30 min and at pH 8.5 and a sample of the resulting reaction mixture was subjected to HPLC. Five kinds of labelled thiols were separated within 12 min on ODS-80 column (150 x 4.6 mm ID; 5 microns) and detected in the ranges from 500 fmol to 2 pmol/100 microL (cysteamine and N-acetylcysteine), to 3 pmol/100 microL (cysteine) and to 5 pmol/100 microL (GSH and D-penicillamine). The lower detection limits were from 7 fmol (cysteamine) to 113 fmol (GSH) per 100 microL (S/N = 2). The method was applied to the determination of thiols in a rat liver. The amounts of glutathione and cysteine were 1.23 +/- 0.15 mumol/g (n = 5) and 0.15 +/- 0.04 mumol/g (n = 5), respectively.     

3-Iodoacetylaminobenzanthrone as a fluorescent derivatizing reagent for thiols in high-performance liquid chromatography

A new thiol-reactive derivatizing reagent, 3-iodoacetylaminobenzanthrone (IAB) has been developed for thiol analysis in liquid chromatography. In aqueous methanol containing 15 mM pH 8.3 H₃BO₃-KCl-Na₂CO₃ buffer, IAB reacted with thiols at 35 °C for 15 min. The derivatives of IAB with glutathione (GSH), cysteine (Cys), homocysteine (Hcy) and N-acetylcysteine (Nac) were well separated on a C₁₈ column with the mobile phase of methanol-water (50:50, v/v) containing 15 mM pH 2.7 H₃cit-Na₂HPO₄ buffer. At λ_ex/λ_em=420/540 nm, the detection limits were 20, 20, 55 and 40 fmol (1, 1, 2.3 and 2 nM), respectively, with a signal-to-noise ratio of 3. Owing to the preferential selectivity of iodoacetamidyl moiety to SH group, amino acids, aliphatic amines, phenol and alcohols had no obvious interference with the determination. The proposed method has been applied to the determination of thiols in human blood with recoveries of 98.5-105.3%.     

Chip-based SALDI-MS for rapid determination of intracellular ratios of glutathione to glutathione disulfide

Alterations in the ratio of glutathione(GSH) to glutathione disulfide(GSSG) reveal the cell living state and are associated with a variety of diseases. In this study, an Au NPs grafted nanoporous silicon chip was used for surface assisted laser desorption ionization-mass spectrometry(SALDI-MS) detection of GSH. Due to the bond interaction between thiol of GSH and Au NPs modified on the chip surfaces, GSH could be captured from the complex cellular lysate. Meanwhile, the composite nanostructures of Au NPs grafted porous silicon surface presented good desorption/ionization efficiency for GSH detection. The GSH levels in different tumor cells were successfully detected. Chip-based SALDI-MS was optimized for quantification of intracellular GSH/GSSG ratio changing under drug stimulation in liver tumor cells, GSSG was reduced to GSH by reductant of tris(2-carboxyethyl)phosphine(TCEP) and isotope-labeling GSH was as an internal standard. It was found that the increasing concentration of drug irinotecan and hypoxia culture condition caused the rapid consumption of GSH and a decrease of GSH/GSSG ratio in liver tumor cells. The developed SALDI-MS method provided a convenient way to accurately measure and rapidly monitor cellular GSH value and the ratios of GSH/GSSG.     

Liquid chromatographic analysis of Hg(II) binding by thiol-rich peptides using both UV–vis and electrochemical detection

An existing method for HPLC determination of thiol-containing peptides has been successfully adapted to the analysis of mixtures of glutathione (GSH) and some related peptides with their Hg(II) complexes as a first approach to the study of phytochelatin extracts. The separation was achieved in a C18 column with a mobile phase of 0.1% trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) and 0.1% TFA/acetonitrile. Non-derivative UV–vis detection at 202 nm used in the original method has been complemented with amperometric detection at 1.2 V on glassy carbon electrode. Two different Hg(II)–GSH complexes were observed by both detection modes and confirmed by mass spectrometry.     

Direct spectrofluorimetric determination of glutathione in biological samples using 5-maleimidyl-2-(m-methylphenyl) benzoxazole

A new thiol fluorescence probe, 5-maleimidyl-2-(m-methylphenyl)benzoxazole (MMPB) has been developed for the direct determination of reduced glutathione (GSH) in real samples. Compared to the reported N-substituted maleimide type of thiol reagents, the main advantage of MMPB is its rather high selectivity for GSH to cysteine (Cys), which often coexists with GSH in biological samples. Under mild conditions similar to the physiological environment, MMPB reacted with GSH to give a highly fluorescent derivative with the excitation and emission wavelengths of 299.2 and 355.8 nm, respectively. In the presence of 0.40-fold (molar ratio) of Cys, a linear relationship was found in the range of 0-1.62×10⁻⁷ mol l⁻¹ with the detection limit (3σ) of 3.23×10⁻¹⁰ mol l⁻¹ for GSH determination. Many other amino acids (100-fold) did not interfere with the determination. Since the molar ratio of Cys to GSH in mammalian tissues and blood does not exceed the value of 0.40:1, the proposed method has been used in the direct determination of GSH in these kinds of biological samples, such as human blood, pig’s liver and heart with the recoveries of 94.3-104.5%     

Spectrofluorimetric determination of cysteine by 5-maleimidyl-2-(m-methylphenyl)benzoxazole

A new thiol weak-fluorescence probe, 5-maleimidyl-2-(m-methylphenyl)benzoxazole (MMPB), gives a highly fluorescence product in the presence of Cys. In this paper, MMPB has been developed for the fluorimetric determination of cysteine (Cys). At lambda(ex)/lambda(em) = 305.6/425.6 nm, the linear range is from 0 to 3.3 x 10(-7) mol l(-1) and the detection limit (sigma = 3) of 6.2 x 10(-10) mol l(-1). The main advantage of this method lies in the relative high selectivity compared with the methods using other N-substituted maleimide type of thiol reagents, in which 0.15-fold (molar ratio) of GSH is allowed and most of other amino acids at 100-fold (molar ratio) level had no obvious effect on the results. The proposed method has been applied to the determination of Cys in real samples.     

Measurement of thiol-containing amino acids and phytochelatin (PC2) via capillary electrophoresis with laser-induced fluorescence detection

An analytical method for determining thiols and phytochelatins using high-performance capillary electrophoresis coupled with laser-induced fluorescence detection is presented. The technique utilizes the labeling of thiols with the fluorescent reagent 5-bromomethylfluorescein (5-BMF), which is excited by a 488 nm argon ion laser and fluoresces at 515 nm. The paper describes the determination of the optimal conditions for reaction of 5-BMF with thiols as well as the parameters for electrophoresis runs that produce optimal electropherogram peaks. The technique is shown to be very sensitive for cysteine, cysteinyl-glycine, gamma-glutamyl-cysteine, glutathione and (gamma-glutamylcysteinyl)2-glycine (PC2). Concentrations as low as 25 nmol/L and amounts as low as 1 fmol were detected for glutathione. Sensitivity for detection of PC2 was somewhat lower. The method was shown to be simple, rapid and accurate and should facilitate measurement of thiol-containing amino acids, peptides and phytochelatin (PC2) in small volumes of extracts obtained from biological tissue.     

Simultaneous determination of rocuronium and its eight impurities in pharmaceutical preparation using high-performance liquid chromatography with amperometric detection

A sensitive and selective HPLC method with amperometric detection (HPLC-ED) for the determination of rocuronium bromide and its eight impurities has been developed. The analysis was performed on Hypersil 100 Silica column 5 microm (250 mm x 4.6 mm; Thermo Electron). The mobile phase consisting of 4.53 g l(-1) solution of tetramethylammonium hydroxide adjusted to pH 7.4 with 85% phosphoric acid:acetonitrile (1:9), was found the best for the separation and determination of the studied compounds. The chromatograms were recorded over 10 min using the amperometric detection at a potential +0.9 V of the glassy carbon electrode versus the reference electrode Ag/AgCl. The limit of quantitation was 45 ng ml(-1) for rocuronium and from 25 to 750 ng ml(-1) for the examined impurities. The proposed HPLC-ED method was successfully applied to the analysis of rocuronium and its impurities in Esmeron solution for injection.     

Voltammetric Investigation of Zinc Release from Metallothioneins Modulated by the Glutathione Redox Couple and Separated with a Porous Membrane

Glutathione (GSH), in addition to serving as a redox buffer in cellular environment, has been suggested as a modulator in metal regulation and homeostasis by metallothioneins (MTs). The interactions of MTs with both GSH and its oxidized form GSSG have been shown to govern the direction of metal transfer. Common methods for the determination of zinc release from MTs modulated by GSH/GSSG either involve radioactive species or enzymes or are labor‐intensive. In this study, upon separation of Zn²⁺ from the reaction mixture of MTs and GSH with a centrifugal filter membrane, differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) was used for the Zn²⁺ quantification. The same approach is extended to the studies of metal transfer between Zn₇MT with a GSH/GSSG mixture and that between Zn₇MT with GSSG. The concomitant conversion between the free thiol and disulfide bonds was confirmed with UV‐vis spectrophotometry. The results demonstrate that GSSG, GSH, and the GSH/GSSG mixture all modulate zinc release from Zn₇MT. The percentage of zinc release increases in the order of GSH, GSSG, and the GSH/GSSG mixture. The new approach is demonstrated to be well suited for investigation of redox regulation of MT and its reaction with zinc‐containing enzymes.