Screening Dyrk1A inhibitors by MALDI-QqQ mass spectrometry: systematic comparison to established radiometric,luminescence, and LC–UV–MS assays

Enzyme-catalyzed reactions play key roles in disease pathology, thus making them relevant subjects of therapeutic inhibitor screening experiments. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) assays have been demonstrated to be able to replace established screening approaches. They offer increased sample throughput, but care must be taken to avoid instrumental bias from differences in ionization efficiencies. We compared a MALDI-triple-quadrupole (QqQ) method for the Dyrk1A peptide substrate woodtide to LC–MS, liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection (LC–UV), luminescence, and radiometric assays. MALDI measurements were performed on a MALDI-QqQ instrument in the multiple-reaction monitoring mode. Different MALDI conditions were investigated to address whether matrix type, sample support, and MRM- or SIM-based detection conditions can be used to accommodate the molar responses of substrate peptide and its phosphorylated form. UV detection served as a reference method. The impact of MALDI matrix on IC₅₀ values was small, even considering that matrix preparations were used that are known to alleviate response differences. IC₅₀ values determined by MALDI were ca. 2-fold lower than those determined by LC–UV. Although MALDI generated lower ion yields for the phosphorylated peptide than for the peptide substrate, we found that a correction of compound potencies was readily possible using correction factors based on unbiased LC–UV results. A thorough method development delivered a robust assay with excellent performance (Z′ > 0.91) that was close to that seen for LC–UV.

Multiresidue screening of pesticides in foods using retention time locking, GC-AED, database search, and GC/MS identification

Fruit and vegetable extracts were screened for over 400 pesticides by gas chromatography with atomic emission detection (GC-AED) and an experimental database. A technique called retention time locking was used to match GC-AED and GC with mass spectrometry (MS) retention times to those of the database. Samples were analyzed for sulfur, nitrogen, phosphorus, and chlorine by GC-AED. Possible pesticides were suggested by database search and identified by GC/MS. Forty-four pesticide standards were analyzed to determine the precision of retention time matching and the accuracy of the database search. Analytical retention times matched database retention times within 0.32 min. Using elemental criteria, the database search identified the correct compound for 41 of 44 pesticide standards. For blind spikes of fruit and vegetable extracts, the database suggested 22 of 26 spiked pesticides as matches. Nineteen were identified by GC/MS. The combination of retention time locking, GC-AED, database search, and GC/MS can be a powerful tool for identifying pesticides in a complex matrix.     

Synthesen und pharmakologische Eigenschaften von 2,2-Dialkyl-5-aryl-3-pyridylpyrrolidinen

Syntheses and Pharmacological Properties of 2,2-Dialkyl-5-aryl-3-pyridylpyrrolidines Reaction of the photochemically generated benzonitrile methylides 2 with vinylpyridines yields 2-aryl-4-pyridyl-1-pyrrolines 3. Depending on reduction methods, the compounds 3 are selectively transformed to the corresponding cis- or the trans-substituted pyrrolidines 10 or 11 , respectively. Furthermore, a non-photochemical synthesis has been developed: the easily available nitro-ketones 8 provide through reductive cyclization the pyrrolines 3 or directly the pyrrolidines 11. Twenty-seven compounds of types 10 and 11 have been evaluated in the writhing, hot plate and kaolin tests; especially the cis-pyrrolidines 10 exhibit a valuable antinociceptive activity. Some of the pyrrolines and pyrrolidines have been separated into their enantiomers, which are easily interconverted.     

Multiply charged ions in the mass spectra of aromatics

The prominence of multiply charged molecular and fragment ions upon electron-impact in the mass spectrometer is proposed as an experimental, empirical indication of aromatic character. The effects of electron withdrawing and donating substituents on the production of multiply charged ions are considered and appearance potentials are noted for several species.     

CS+(B2Σ+ → A 2Πi) fluorescence from penning excitation of CS

The energy transfer reation of He(2³S) + CS was studied spectroscopically in a flowing afterglow apparatus. The CS⁺(B²Σ⁺ → A ²Π_i) transition is identified via three members of the Δν = 0 sequence (406–415 nm). The spin-orbit splitting of the (0, 0) band of CS⁺(A ²Π_i) is 301 ± 5 cm^?1. A weak emitting system (280–340 nm) is tentatively identified as CS⁺(B²Σ⁺→ X²Σ⁺).     

A multi-coincident study of the quasimolecular 1s σ radiation and its angular distribution in 40 MeV Ni-Ni collisions

The production mechanism of quasimolecular (MO) x-rays in 40 MeV Ni-Ni collisions was investigated in a multi-parameter experiment. Impact parameter dependent MO x-ray production probabilities were determined. The study of the angular distribution of the emitted radiation allowed the determination of impact parameter dependent alignment parameters for this process. Triple coincident MO x-ray — NiK x-ray — scattered projectile data provided for the determination of state selective MO x-ray production probabilities. The results are compared to dynamical calculations describing the time dependent evolution of the relevant quasimolecular states and the radiative couplings among them.