Determination of protein-bound methionine oxidation in the hippocampus of adult and old rats by LC-ESI-ITMS method after microwave-assisted proteolysis

Protein-bound methionine (Met) oxidation has been associated with normal aging and a variety of age-related diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. Monitoring the changes of protein-bound methionine content in the brain in response to normal aging and oxidative stress is of great interest and could be used as an indicator of oxidative stress of rats in pathological conditions. We have developed a rapid analytical method for the determination of oxidized products of protein-bound methionine in rat brain. The assay involved rapid acid proteolysis with microwave irradiation and solid-phase extraction of the free amino acids followed by LC-ESI-ITMS analysis. Detection was achieved in positive ionization with an ion trap mass spectrometer operating in multiple-reaction monitoring mode. The calibration curves of the analytes were linear (r ² > 0.99) in the range between 0.098 and 1.560 μg/mL. Intra- and inter-day relative standard deviation percentages were <9% and <8%, respectively. The assay performance was sufficient to support a rapid analytical tool for monitoring brain protein-bound methionine oxidation levels. The content of protein-bound Met and methionine sulfoxide (MetO) in the hippocampus of adult and old rats with or without H₂O₂ treatment was determined by employing the new method. The content of protein-bound MetO was significantly increased in old rats after exposure to H₂O₂. This result indicates increased sensitivity to Met oxidation in the hippocampus of old rats.     

Reversed-phase depletion coupled with hydrophilic affinity enrichment for the selective isolation of N-linked glycopeptides by using Click OEG-CD matrix

Selective enrichment of glycopeptides is of great importance for protein glycosylation analysis using mass spectrometry since the signals of glycopeptides could be severely suppressed by the coexisting non-glycosylated peptides in the protein digest. In the present work, a strategy for N-linked glycopeptide enrichment through reversed-phase depletion coupled with hydrophilic affinity enrichment by applying the customized matrix named Click OEG-CD is developed. Compared with single hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) mode, the strategy exhibited remarkably higher selectivity for N-linked glycopeptides. As many as 22, 18, and eight glycopeptides were detected in the glycopeptide fraction enriched with the strategy from the digests of human immunoglobulin G, horseradish peroxidase and bovine ribonuclease B, respectively. In addition, the strategy also showed high glycosylation microheterogeneity coverage for the enrichment of human α₁-acid glycoprotein glycopeptides. More than 170 glycopeptides covering all the glycosylation sites were detected in the enriched fraction. The revered-phase liquid chromatography depletion coupled with HILIC enrichment strategy by using Click OEG-CD matrix is expected to show more potential in further applications in glycosylation analysis.     

基于加权可能性均值的亚式期权模糊定价

主要探讨不确定环境下用模糊集理论处理亚式期权的定价问题.运用梯形模糊数来表示标的资产价格、无风险利率、红利率和波动率,建立了亚式期权的加权可能性均值模糊定价模型,得到连续几何和算术亚式期权的模糊价格公式.最后通过数值例子表明:亚式期权的加权可能性均值模糊定价模型具有很大的灵活性,更符合现实的不确定情况,具有较强的实用价值.     

Cell compatible trimethoprim-decorated iron oxide nanoparticles bind dihydrofolate reductase for magnetically modulating focal adhesion of mammalian cells

On the basis of the high affinity binding of trimethoprim (TMP) to Escherichia coli dihydrofolate reductase (eDHFR), TMP-decorated iron oxide nanoparticles bind to eDHFR with high affinity and specificity, which allows magnetic modulation of focal adhesion of mammalian cells adhered to a surface. Besides being the first example of nanoparticles that selectively bind to eDHFR, the biocompatibility of the conjugate of TMP-iron oxide nanoparticles renders a convenient and versatile platform for investigating the cellular responses to specific, mechanical perturbation of proteins via a magnetic force.     

Binaphthol-derived bisphosphoric acids serve as efficient organocatalysts for highly enantioselective 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of azomethine ylides to electron-deficient olefins

A variety of chiral bisphosphoric acids derived from binaphthols have been evaluated for enantioselective 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions, revealing that the feature of the linker in the catalysts exerted great impact on the stereoselectivity. Among them, the oxygen-linked bisphosphoric acid 1a provided the highest level of stereoselectivity for the 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction tolerating a wide range of substrates including azomethine ylides, generated in situ from a broad scope of aldehydes and α-amino esters, and various electron-deficient dipolarophiles such as maleates, fumarates, vinyl ketones, and esters. This reaction actually represents one of the most enantioselective catalytic approaches to access structurally diverse pyrrolidines with excellent optical purity. Theoretical calculations with DFT method on the formation of azomethine ylides and on the transition states of the 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition step showed that the dipole and dipolarophile were simultaneously activated by the bifunctional chiral bisphosphoric acids through the formation of hydrogen bonds. The effect of the bisphosphoric acids on reactivity and stereochemistry of the three-component 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction was also theoretically rationalized. The bisphosphoric acid catalyst 1a may take on a half-moon shape with the two phosphoric acid groups forming two intramolecular hydrogen bonds. In the case of maleates, one phosphate acts as a base to activate the 1,3-dipole, and simultaneously, the two hydroxyl groups in the catalyst 1a may respectively form two hydrogen bonds with the two ester groups of maleate to make it more electronically deficient as a much stronger dipolarophile to participate in a concerted 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition with azomethine ylide. However, in the cases involving acrylate and fumarate dipolarophiles, only one hydroxyl group forms a hydrogen bond with the ester functional group to lower the LUMO of the C-C double bond and another one is remained to adjust the acidity and basicity of two phosphoric acids to activate the dipole and dipolarophile more effectively.     

Highly selective in situ metal ion determination by hybrid electrochemical "adsorption-desorption" and colorimetric methods

A novel and facile hybrid analytical method coupling electrochemical “adsorption–desorption” and colorimetric analyses was developed to detect heavy metal ions in turbid water samples. The target metal ions were deposited onto an electrode inserted into the original sample, which was referred to as the “adsorption” process. After changing the medium, the concentrated target metal ions were dissolved in a new, clean buffer (blank buffer), which was referred to as the “desorption” process. The concentrations of the target metal ions were measured by colorimetric analyses after the addition of specific indicator amounts. We demonstrated the applicability of this method by detecting Cd²⁺, Pb²⁺ and Cu²⁺ with co-depositing Bi³⁺ on portable screen-printed electrodes (SPEs). A good correlation (correlation coefficient of R = 0.997) was observed between concentrations ranging from 1 to 200 μM and absorbance values. After the multiple “desorption” process, the even better detection limits as low as 10, 10 and 100 nM were achieved for Cd²⁺, Pb²⁺ and Cu²⁺, respectively. The practicality of this hybrid method was confirmed by the detection of Cd²⁺, Pb²⁺ and Cu²⁺ in wastewater samples, and these results were in agreement with inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES). Overall, this hybrid method provides a simple, selective and effective technique for environmental pollutant analyses.     

Oleanolic triterpene saponins from the roots of Panax bipinnatifidus

Ten oleanane-type saponins (1-10), including three new compounds, namely bifinosides A-C (1-3), were isolated from the roots of Panax bipinnatifidus SEEM. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of chemical and spectroscopic methods.     

Study of ultrafast dynamics of 2-picoline by time-resolved photoelectron imaging

The dynamics of electronically excited states in 2-picoline is studied using femtosecond time-resolved photoelectron imaging spectroscopy. The internal conversion from the S(2) state to the vibrationally excited S(1) state is observed in real time. The secondarily populated high vibronic S(1) state deactivates further to the S(0) state. Photoelectron energy and angular distributions reveal the feature of ionization from the singlet 3p Rydberg states. In addition, variation of time-dependent anisotropy parameters indicates the rotational coherence of the molecule.     

Exploring the structure and properties of transition metal templated {VM17(VO4)2} Dawson-like capsules

Vanadate(V)-templated Dawson-type capsules {V(IV)M(VI)(17)(VO(4))(2)} (M = Mo, W; 1-2) have been synthesized and investigated by electrochemical methods in aqueous and organic media using spectroscopic techniques, EPR, UV-vis/NIR, IR, and CSI-MS (cryospray ionization mass spec.), and the clusters have been examined in the solid state by magnetic studies. The collision-induced dissociation (CID-MS) studies confirmed the solution structures as well as helped pinpoint the position of the vanadium ion on the {VM(17)}-type shell, which was corroborated by EPR and theoretical studies.