Development of an automated dual‐mode supercritical fluid chromatography and reversed‐phase liquid chromatography mass‐directed purification system for small‐molecule drug discovery

We report the development of a dual‐mode mass‐directed supercritical fluid chromatography and reversed‐phase liquid chromatography purification system. The addition of a third pump allows for flexible mobile phase control between the two techniques, and enables operation of either chromatography mode within minutes by activation of a set of switching valves on a single system. Software control, fluidic pathways, interface to the mass spectrometer, and fraction collection have been modified for compatibility between both separation methods. The conditioning solvent and tuning parameters for the mass spectrometer were adjusted to achieve an ideal signal trace in either mode with good linearity (r² > 0.970) over a range of concentrations and minimal noise for accurate peak detection and isolation. The registration success rate is 90% and overall sample recovery for either technique is 80?90%. Combining two orthogonal separation and purification modes in one single system has improved the purification throughput of complex mixtures and has been a valuable, cost‐saving tool in our laboratory.     

Urinary metabolomic study of non‐small cell lung carcinoma based on ultra high performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry

Metabolic profiles from human urine reveal the significant difference of carnitine and acylcarnitines levels between non‐small cell lung carcinoma patients and healthy controls. Urine samples from cancer patients and healthy individuals were assayed in this metabolomic study using ultra high performance liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry. The data were normalized by the sum of all intensities and creatinine calibration, respectively, before orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis. Twenty differential metabolites were identified based on standard compounds or tandem mass spectrometry fragments. Among them, some medium‐/long‐chain acylcarnitines, for example, cis‐3,4‐methylene heptanoylcarnitine, were found to be downregulated while carnitine was upregulated in urine samples from the cancer group compared to the control group. Receiver operating characteristic analysis of the two groups showed that the area under curve for the combination of carnitine and 11 selected acylcarnitines was 0.958. This study suggests that the developed carnitine and acylcarnitines profiling method has the potential to be used for screening non‐small cell lung carcinoma.     

Quantitative analysis and pharmacokinetics study of tigecycline in human serum using a validated sensitive liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry method

Tigecycline, a novel intravenously administered glycylcycline antibiotic, currently plays a key role in the management of complicated multiorganism infections. However, current liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry methods briefly describe parameters and the only reported internal standard was sometimes difficult to obtain. In our study, an updated liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry method for the quantitative analysis of tigecycline in human serum was developed. Sample preparation involved precipitation with 20% trichloroacetic acid. Chromatographic separation of tigecycline and tetracycline (internal standard) was achieved on a Hypersil GOLD C₁₈ column using gradient elution. The selected reaction monitoring transitions were performed at m/z 586.1→513.2 for tigecycline and m/z 445.1→410.2 for tetracycline. The assay was linear over the concentration range of 5–2000 ng/mL. The intra‐ and interday precisions at three concentration levels (10, 100, and 1600 ng/mL) were <15% and their accuracies were within the range of 95.1–106.1%. The mean recovery ranged from 94.3 to 105.6% and the matrix effect from 92.1 to 97.6%. Tigecycline was stable under all tested conditions. This validated method was successfully applied to a pharmacokinetic study in critically ill patients. The data demonstrated that our method allows quantification of tigecycline in serum in a quick and reliable manner for widespread application.     

Development and validation of an ELISA kit for the detection of ricin toxins from biological specimens and environmental samples

Ricin is a toxin that can be easily extracted from seeds of Ricinus communis plants. Ricin is considered to be a major bio-threat as it can be freely and easily acquired in large quantities. A deliberate release of such toxin in civilian populations would very likely overwhelm existing public health systems, resulting in public fear and social unrest. There is currently no commercially available or FDA-approved prophylaxis such as vaccines, or therapeutic antitoxins or antidotes, available for ricin intoxication. Patient treatment is typically supportive care based on symptoms, often designed to reinforce the body’s natural response. This paper describes the development and validation of a robust ELISA test kit, which can be used to screen for ricin in biological specimens such as whole blood and faeces. Faecal specimens are shown in this study to have better diagnostic sensitivity and a wider diagnostic window compared to whole blood. From these results, it is concluded that faeces is the most suitable clinical specimen for diagnosis of ricin poisoning via the oral route. The ELISA test kit can also detect ricin in environmental samples. An advantage of this ELISA kit over other commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) detection kits currently on the market that are developed to screen environmental samples only is its ability to diagnose ricin poisoning from clinical specimens as well as detect ricin from environmental samples.     

Ethanol synthesis from syngas on Mn- and Fe-promoted Rh/γ-Al2O3

The catalytic hydrogenation of CO was studied over Mn- and/or Fe-promoted Rh/γ-Al₂O₃ catalysts. The catalysts were characterized by means of XRD, BET, H₂-TPR·H₂-TPD, XPS and DRIFTS. CO hydrogenation results showed that the doubly Mn- and Fe-promoted Rh/γ-Al₂O₃ catalysts exhibited superior catalytic activity and better ethanol selectivity. The DRIFTS results showed that Mn promoter stabilized the adsorbed CO on Rh⁺ and Fe stabilized adsorbed CO on Rh⁺ and Rh⁰, especially Rh⁰. The fact that doubly Mn- and Fe-promoted Rh/γ-Al₂O₃ owned more (Rhx⁰–Rhy⁺)–O–Fe³⁺·(Fe²⁺) active species was proposed to be a crucial factor accounting for its higher ethanol selectivity.     

The detection of T-Nos,a genetic element present in GMOs,by cross-priming isothermal amplification with real-time fluorescence

An isothermal cross-priming amplification (CPA) assay for Agrobacterium tumefaciens nopaline synthase terminator (T-Nos) was established and investigated in this work. A set of six specific primers, recognizing eight distinct regions on the T-Nos sequence, was designed. The CPA assay was performed at a constant temperature, 63 °C, and detected by real-time fluorescence. The results indicated that real-time fluorescent CPA had high specificity, and the limit of detection was 1.06?×?10³ copies of rice genomic DNA, which could be detected in 40 min. Comparison of real-time fluorescent CPA and conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was also performed. Results revealed that real-time fluorescent CPA had a comparable sensitivity to conventional real-time PCR and had taken a shorter time. In addition, different contents of genetically modified (GM)-contaminated rice seed powder samples were detected for practical application. The result showed real-time fluorescent CPA could detect 0.5 % GM-contaminated samples at least, and the whole reaction could be finished in 35 min. Real-time fluorescent CPA is sensitive enough to monitor labeling systems and provides an attractive method for the detection of GMO.

Site-specific qualitative and quantitative analysis of the N- and O-glycoforms in recombinant human erythropoietin

Recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEPO) has been extensively used as a pharmaceutical product for treating anemia. Glycosylation of rhEPO affects the biological activity, immunogenicity, pharmacokinetics, and in-vivo clearance rate of rhEPO. Characterization of the glycosylation status of rhEPO is of great importance for quality control. In this study, we established a fast and comprehensive approach for reliable characterization and relative quantitation of rhEPO glycosylation, which combines multiple-enzyme digestion, hydrophilic-interaction chromatography (HILIC) enrichment of glycopeptides, and tandem mass spectrometry (MS) analysis. The N-linked and O-linked intact glycopeptides were analyzed with high-resolution and high-accuracy (HR–AM) mass spectrometry using an Orbitrap. In total, 74 intact glycopeptides from four glycosylation sites at N₂₄, N₃₈, N₈₃, and O₁₂₆ were identified, with the simultaneous determination of peptide sequences and glycoform compositions. The extracted ion chromatograms based on the HR–AM data enabled relative quantification of glycoforms. Our results could be extended to quality control of rhEPO or could help establish detection approaches for glycosylation of other proteins. Graphical Abstract

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Reliable screening of pesticide residues in maternal and umbilical cord sera by gas chromatography-quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry

The widespread use of pesticides induces heavy adverse effects on human health,especially for the pregnant women and the newborns.In this study,a screening method has been developed for the determination of multi-pesticides in maternal and umbilical cord sera.All pesticides in sera were collected using solid phase extraction(SPE),and analyzed by gas chromatography-quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry(GC-QTOF MS).To set up the quality criteria,a database of 50 pesticides was created and the accurate masses of 3 up to 5 representative ions with their intensity ratios were included for each pesticide.In addition,a novel"identification points"(IPs)system relying on the accurate MS1 and MS2 spectra was used to interpret the data for each suspected pesticide.The methodology was then applied to a pair of maternal and umbilical cord sera.A total of six pesticide residues were screened out successfully.In conclusion,GC-QTOF MS combined with an accurate mass database seemed to be one of the most efficient tools for systematic pesticide analysis.     

Glucose detection at attomole levels using dynamic light scattering and gold nanoparticles

Glucose is directly related to brain activity and to diabetes.Therefore,developing a rapid and sensitive method for glucose detection is essential.Here,label-free glucose detection at attomole levels was realized by detecting the average diameter change of gold nanoparticles(AuNPs)utilizing dynamic light scattering(DLS).Single-strand DNA(ssDNA)adsorbed into the AuNPs’surfaces and prevented them from aggregating in solution that contained NaCl.However,ssDNA cleaved onto ssDNA fragments upon addition of glucose,and these fragments could not adsorb onto the AuNPs’surfaces.Therefore,in high-salt solution,AuNPs would aggregate and their average diameter would increase.Based on monitoring the average diameter of AuNPs with DLS,glucose could be detected in the range from 15 pmol/L to 2.0 nmol/L,with a detection limit of 8.3 pmol/L.Satisfactory results were also obtained when the proposed method was applied in human serum glucose detection.     

Cu3Mo2O9 nanosheet incorporated with hemoglobin on carbon ionic liquid electrode for the direct electrochemistry and electrocatalysis

In this paper Cu₃Mo₂O₉ nanosheet was prepared by a hydrothermal method and further used to investigate the direct electrochemistry of hemoglobin (Hb) with a carbon ionic liquid electrode (CILE) as the substrate electrode. Hb was mixed with Cu₃Mo₂O₉ nanosheet and cast on the CILE surface with chitosan (CTS) as the film-forming material. UV-vis and FT-IR spectroscopic results showed that Hb remained in its native structure in the composite film. Direct electron transfer of Hb on the modified electrode was realized with a pair of well-defined quasi-reversible redox waves that appeared on cyclic voltammograms. The redox peak potential appeared at ?0.252 V (E _pc) and ?0.141 V (E _pa), respectively, with the formal peak potential calculated as ?0.196 V, which was the characteristic of electroactive center of Hb heme Fe(III)/Fe(II). The result could be attributed to the presence of Cu₃Mo₂O₉ nanosheet on the electrode surface that was of benefit for the protein orientation and promoted direct electron transfer between the redox active center of Hb and the substrate electrode. The CTS/Cu₃Mo₂O₉–Hb/CILE showed good electrocatalytic ability in reducing different substrates such as trichloroacetic acid, H₂O₂ and O₂, with wider linear range and lower detection limit, thus exhibiting the potential application of the Cu₃Mo₂O₉ nanosheet in third-generation electrochemical biosensors.