A Potent,Selective and Cell‐Active Allosteric Inhibitor of Protein Arginine Methyltransferase 3 (PRMT3)

PRMT3 catalyzes the asymmetric dimethylation of arginine residues of various proteins. It is essential for maturation of ribosomes, may have a role in lipogenesis, and is implicated in several diseases. A potent, selective, and cell‐active PRMT3 inhibitor would be a valuable tool for further investigating PRMT3 biology. Here we report the discovery of the first PRMT3 chemical probe, SGC707, by structure‐based optimization of the allosteric PRMT3 inhibitors we reported previously, and thorough characterization of this probe in biochemical, biophysical, and cellular assays. SGC707 is a potent PRMT3 inhibitor (IC₅₀=31±2 nM , K_D=53±2 nM ) with outstanding selectivity (selective against 31 other methyltransferases and more than 250 non‐epigenetic targets). The mechanism of action studies and crystal structure of the PRMT3‐SGC707 complex confirm the allosteric inhibition mode. Importantly, SGC707 engages PRMT3 and potently inhibits its methyltransferase activity in cells. It is also bioavailable and suitable for animal studies. This well‐characterized chemical probe is an excellent tool to further study the role of PRMT3 in health and disease.     

A shotgun approach for the identification of platinum–protein complexes

A shotgun approach including peptide-based OFFGEL-isoelectric focusing (IEF) fractionation has been developed with the aim of improving the identification of platinum-binding proteins in biological samples. The method is based on a filter-aided sample preparation (FASP) tryptic digestion under denaturing and reducing conditions of cisplatin–, oxaliplatin–, and carboplatin–protein complexes, followed by OFFGEL-IEF separation of the peptides. Any risk of platinum loss is minimized throughout the procedure due to the removal of the reagents used after each stage of the FASP method and the absence of thiol-based reagents in the focusing buffer employed in the IEF separation. The platinum–peptide complexes stability after the FASP digestion and the IEF separation was confirmed by size exclusion chromatography-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (SEC-ICP-MS). The suitability of peptide-based OFFGEL-IEF fractionation for reducing the sample complexity for further nano-liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry (nLC-ESI-MS/MS) analysis has been demonstrated, allowing the detection of platinum-containing peptides, with significantly lower abundance and ionization efficiency than unmodified peptides. nLC-MS/MS analysis of selected OFFGEL-IEF fractions from tryptic digests with different complexity degrees: standard human serum albumin (HSA), a mixture of five proteins (albumin, transferrin, carbonic anhydrase, myoglobin, and cytochrome-c) and human blood serum allowed the identification of several platinum–peptides from cisplatin–HSA. Cisplatin-binding sites in HSA were elucidated from the MS/MS spectra and assessed considering the protein three-dimensional structure. Most of the potential superficial binding sites available on HSA were identified for all the samples, including a biologically relevant cisplatin-cross-link of two protein domains, demonstrating the capabilities of the methodology.

Open image in new window

Graphical Abstract Graphical abstract shows the several steps involved in the identification of platinum-protein complexes: FASP digestion of proteins, peptide fractionation by OFFGEL-IEF and identification of Pt-complexes by nLC-ESIMS/MS

     

Thermophysical property characterization of tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane

In this present work, a thermophysical property characterization of aqueous solution of tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane (TRIS), a biological buffer, was done. The investigated properties were refractive index (n), density (ρ), and electrolytic conductivity (κ). These properties were measured for temperatures up to 353.15 K (at normal atmospheric condition) and for the entire composition range where TRIS is still soluble in water. The measured properties were reported as functions of temperature and composition. A modified form of the Vogel–Tamman–Fulcher equation which leads to an Arrhenius-type asymptotic exponential function was used to generally correlate the temperature and compositional dependence of the considered properties and satisfactory results were obtained.     

Spectrophotometric determination of aluminium and nickel

A simple spectrophotometric method, based on the complexes with xylenol orange (XO) and EDTA, is presented for the rapid determination of aluminium and nickel, respectively, in synthetic samples of hydrotalcite. The method only requires the solubilization in sulphuric acid of the inorganic material before the ligand addition. Under optimum conditions, the complexes Al-XO and Ni-EDTA showed maximum absorption at 554 nm and 380 nm, respectively. The method obeyed Beer's law in the concentration range 0.14-1.8 microg mL(-1) of aluminium, and 30-2730 microg mL(-1) of nickel. Molar absorptivities were 2.45 x 10(4) and 14.85 L mol(-1) cm(-1) while Sandell's sensitivities were 1.1 x 10(-3) and 3.9 microg cm(-2) for aluminium and nickel, respectively. The standard addition technique was used and the recoveries obtained revealed that the proposed procedure shows good accuracy.     

The Quenched Instationary Polymerization System, 5. The Peak Broadness as an Invariant Quantity of the Number,Molar Mass and Hyper Distributions

The total number, molar mass and hyper distributions generated by quenched instationary polymerization techniques are dominated by the radical chain length distribution (RCLD) whereas the contribution from the polymer chain length distribution (PCLD) is in most cases negligible. For the determination of the rate constant of propagation (k_p) the location of different extraordinary points of the distribution curves is determined by the use of the first and second derivatives. For the number, molar mass and hyper distributions these points are related in an unambiguous way to k_p[M]t_x and can be used to extract k_p. The choice of t_x (duration of the dark period, or an initiation period, or the sum of different periods) depends on the experimental conditions (δ‐pulse, incomplete pre‐effect, combination of periods differing in initiation extent) and is essential for the proper determination of k_p. The broadness of appearing peaks (introduced as the difference between two successive points of inflections) turned out to remain the same irrespective which type of distribution curve was analyzed. Analytical expressions for the peak broadness were derived for different types of quenched instationary polymerization conditions. For δ‐pulse initiation the broadness of the Poisson peak depends simply on the number of propagation steps that occurred whereas for non‐δ‐pulse initiation conditions the peak broadness is governed by the corresponding duration of the initiation period.     

A validated liquid chromatographic tandem mass spectrometric method for the determination of mirtazapine and demethylmirtazapine in human plasma: application to a pharmacokinetic study

A new liquid chromatographic tandem mass spectrometric method for the determination of mirtazapine and demethylmirtazapine in human plasma has been developed and fully validated. The article describes in detail the bioanalytical procedure and summarizes the validation results obtained. The samples were extracted using liquid-liquid extraction with a mixture of 1-chlorobutane/isopropanol/ethyl acetate (88:2:10, (v/v/v)). The chromatographic separation was performed on a reversed-phase XTerrra MS C₈ column ( i.d.; 3.5 μm particle size) using a mobile phase consisting of 0.010 M ammonium formate (pH 7.8) and acetonitrile (35:65, (v/v)), pumped at a flow rate of 0.80 ml min⁻¹. The analytes were detected using a Finnigan LCQ advantage ion-trap mass spectrometer with positive electrospray ionization in selected reaction monitoring (SRM) mode. Tandem mass spectrometric detection enabled the quantitation of both compounds down to 0.10 ng ml⁻¹. Calibration graphs were linear (r better than 0.990, n=11), in concentration ranges 0.10 to 200 ng ml⁻¹ for mirtazapine demethylmirtazapine. The intra- and inter-day R.S.D. values were less than 14.8 and 16.6% for mirtazapine and demethylmirtazapine, respectively. The method was successfully applied to a kinetic study in order to assess the main pharmacokinetic parameters of mirtazapine and demethylmirtazapine.     

Antigenicity of heat-treated and trypsin-digested milk samples studied by an optical immunochip biosensor

Abstract  Individuals with known hypersensitivity or food allergy need to avoid ingestion of provoking food. Correct labelling of allergenic content in manufactured food products and the reliable determination of its residual immunoreactivity after several processing steps are therefore a major concern for the food industry. We evaluated the applicability of a new immunochip biosensor system to reveal the allergenic profile of the whey protein β-lactoglobulin (β-LG) in its natural biological cow’s milk matrix upon processing by tryptic digestion and extensive heat treatment. Colorimetric immunochemical signals generated by gold nanoparticles (Au NPs), in particular their functional optical property based on resonance-enhanced absorption of mirror-reflected light, were directly visible to the ‘naked’ eye of the analyst without the need of any instrumentation or enzyme-substrate for read-out. By using affinity-purified polyclonal rabbit IgG against the native protein, no antigenicity was detected for tryptic fragments. Both heat-denatured whey proteins and cow’s whole milk, however, did not lose their antibody-binding capacity even after a processing time of 20 min at 95°C for the whey proteins, and 60 min at 90°C for the milk, though the immunochemical response was considerably low compared to the unprocessed β-LG. Additionally, cross-reactivity and the false positive as well as false negative predictive value of the chip system were highlighted critically. Graphical abstract        

Crystal structure, spectroscopy and thermodynamic properties of MVWO6(M – Li, Na)

In the present work lithium (sodium) vanadium tungsten oxides with brannerite structure is refined by the Rietveld method (space group C2/m, Z=2). IR and Raman spectroscopy was used to assign vibrational bands and determine structural particularities. The diffuse reflectance spectra allow to calculate bandgap for M^IVWO₆(M^I – Li, Na). The temperature dependences of heat capacity have been measured first in the range from 7 to 350 K for these compounds and then between 330 and 640 K, respectively, by precision adiabatic vacuum and dynamic calorimetry. The experimental data were used to calculate standard thermodynamic functions, namely the heat capacity C_p^o(T), enthalpy H^o(T)−H^o(0), entropy S^o(T)−S^o(0) and Gibbs function G^o(T)−H^o(0), for the range from T→0 to 640 K. The differential scanning calorimetry was applied to measure decomposition temperature of compounds under study.     

Quantitative Determination of Isostearic Acid Isomers in Skin Creams by GC-MS-SIM

“Isostearic acid” is frequently listed as an ingredient of skin creams and other cosmetics. In the four skin creams analyzed, “isostearic acid” was esterified with isopropanol, as well as sorbitan or polyglycerols. “Isopropyl isostearate” was isolated by HCl treatment and saponification whereas emulsifiers (sorbitan or polyglycerol isostearates) were enriched by means of a C₁₈-cartridge. Fatty acids in the resulting lipid fraction were transferred into methyl esters. 25:0 and 19:0 methyl esters were used as internal standards. GC-EI-MS was used to determine that “isostearic acid” was a mixture of many methyl-branched isomers of stearic acid (18:0) in all four skin creams. Thus, it may be better termed “isostearic acids”. The branched-chain nature of isostearates was verified by formation and analysis of picolinyl esters of skin cream fatty acids by GC-EI-MS. Twenty-five 18:0 isomers were detected and the main products had one methyl branch on carbons C₁₀–C₁₄. Two late eluting isostearic acid isomers were identified as 16-methyl heptadecanoic acid (i18:0) and 15-methyl heptadecanoic acid (a18:0). GC-EI-MS in the selected ion monitoring (SIM) mode with m/z 87 as quantification ion was used for the determination of i18:0 methyl ester. The quantities of i18:0 in the samples amounted to 10–20 mg g^?1 skin cream. The contribution of i18:0 to the sum of all 18:0 isomers in the four skin cream samples was 8.5 ± 1.1%. Instead of determining all individual isostearates in a product, we suggest the quantitative determination of i18:0 followed by multiplication with factor 11.75 (~reciprocal value of 8.5%, see above) as a simple method for the quantification of isostearates in cosmetics.