Analysis of doxorubicin uptake in single human leukemia K562 cells using capillary electrophoresis coupled with laser-induced fluorescence detection

The doxorubicin (DOX) uptake in single human leukemia K562 cells with changes in both drug dosage and exposure period was studied using capillary electrophoresis (CE) coupled with laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) detection. The cells were treated with DOX at different concentrations (1, 3, 10, 20, 30, and 50 μM) and for different exposure times (1, 3, 5, 24, and 48 h). At least 20 cells were analyzed for each DOX-treated cell population. A marked heterogeneity in DOX uptake among single cells was observed, because the relative standard deviation of the uptake of DOX by single cells ranged from 24.0% to 61.1% within each cell population. The cell-to-cell heterogeneity in DOX uptake first decreased and then became constant with increasing drug concentration, but it did not exhibit regular variation with increasing exposure time. The mean DOX uptake was a linear function of drug concentration (r ≥ 0.9667). In terms of the correlation with exposure time, the mean DOX uptake reached its maximum at 3 h for the cell populations treated with 1–10 μM DOX, while it kept increasing during 48 h exposure of cell populations to 20–50 μM DOX. Because it eliminates DOX fluorescence quenching and sample loss, the CE-LIF method directly detects the true DOX uptake by single cells, and thus presents accurate information on both the cell-to-cell heterogeneity in DOX uptake and the patterns of DOX uptake in K562 cells as functions of drug concentration and exposure time.     

Soft-templating synthesis and adsorption properties of mesoporous carbons with embedded silver nanoparticles

Mesoporous carbons containing silver nanoparticles have been successfully synthesized under acidic conditions by employing resorcinol and formaldehyde as carbon precursors and triblock copolymer EO₁₀₁PO₅₆EO₁₀₁ (Lutrol F127) as a soft template. Silver nanoparticles of ∼90 nm were added to the synthesis mixture to achieve 10 wt% and 20 wt% of Ag loading in the carbon. Also, tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) was introduced to the system in order to improve adsorption properties of the silver-carbon composites and to reinforce its structure. The resulting carbons with incorporated silver nanoparticles featured high surface areas, large total pore volumes and primary mesopores in the range between ∼6–7 nm.     

Study of alkyl phosphates in industrial petroleum mixtures by comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Dialkyl phosphate esters used as gellants in some oil well fracturing processes for conventional oil production can result in contamination of the collected crude. Though the exact mechanism is unclear, such compounds form volatile phosphorus that compromises refinery processes. Our initial research involved producing a comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatographic method (GC × GC) for the detection and quantification of alkyl phosphate esters in petroleum samples, which surpassed the current method employed in sensitivity and speciation capabilities. However, selective detection is required for such analytes in petroleum matrices. This article describes the application of GC × GC with time-of-flight mass spectrometry for selective detection to the analysis of di- and tri-alkyl phosphates in petroleum samples. Features in the electron impact mass spectra of alkyl phosphates are discussed along with the GC × GC retention characteristics of the compounds. Based on these discussions, a preliminary classification and quantification of alkyl phosphate contamination in a suite of industrial samples is then presented.     

Studies on Immobilization and Partial Characterization of Lipases from Wheat Seeds (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Triticum aestivum</Emphasis>)

The objective of this study was to provide some features on immobilization and partial characterization of lipases from wheat seeds. The optimum pH and temperature were found to be 5.5 and 32–37 °C, respectively. The stability of the concentrated enzymatic extract to high temperatures (25, 35, 45, and 55 °C) showed that the incubation of the extract at 55 °C led to its complete inactivation. The concentrated enzymatic extract kept 90% of its hydrolytic and esterification activities until 70 and 40 days of storage at 4 °C, respectively. The extract presented higher hydrolytic specificity to substrates of medium and long chains and higher esterification affinity to fatty acids of short and medium chains and alcohols with two and three carbon atoms. After the immobilization process using activated coal and sodium alginate as supports, an enhancement of about threefold in lipase activity was observed. The development of the present work permitted us to point out some characteristics of lipases from wheat seeds necessary for the proposition of new future industrial applications for this important biocatalyst.     

Synthesis,characterization and crystal structure analysis of a novel oxo-centered mixed-metal complex containing unsaturated bridging carboxylates

A novel oxo-centered trinuclear mixed-metal carboxylate complex with unsaturated bridging ligands [Fe₂Cr(μ₃-O)(C₃H₃O₂)₆(H₂O)₃]·NO₃·4H₂O has been synthesized and characterized by means of Elemental analyses, Infrared spectroscopy and Crystal structure analysis. The compound crystallizes isotypically in the monoclinic space group type P2₁/c. In the compound, each M^(III) cation is coordinated by six O atoms from four unsaturated carboxylate groups as bridging ligands, one water molecule as the terminal ligand, and a μ₃-oxygen atom in the center of an equilateral triangle. The infrared spectra show resolved bands arising from ν_asym(COO) and ν_sym(COO) vibration of bridging carboxylate ligands along with those of ν_asym(M₂M′O) vibration in the complex. The difference between symmetrical and asymmetrical (COO) ligands indicate that the acrylate bridge is present in the structure of complex.      

Systematic studies on the determination of Hg-labelled proteins using laser ablation-ICPMS and isotope dilution analysis

A method was developed for the precise and accurate determination of ovalbumin labelled with p-hydroxy-mercuribenzoic acid (pHMB) using polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis with ns-laser ablation–inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Following systematic optimisation of the ablation process in terms of detection sensitivity, two different quantification strategies were applied: external calibration using standards of the derivatized protein after ¹³C⁺ normalization and, as a proof of concept, label-specific isotope dilution analysis (IDA) using pHMB enriched in the isotope ¹⁹⁹Hg. Due to the inhomogeneous distribution of the protein within the gel bands, it could be demonstrated that the IDA approach was superior in terms of precision and accuracy. Furthermore, it permits a reliable quantification, if more complex separation protocols are applied, as typically occurring analyte loss and degradation can be compensated for as soon as complete mixture of spike and sample is achieved. The estimated limit of detection was 160 fmol in the case of ovalbumin. In contrast to earlier studies using metals naturally present in proteins, no loss of mercury was observed during separation under denaturing conditions and other sample preparation steps. Using label-specific IDA, the measured isotope ratios in the gel corresponded to recoveries between 95% and 103%.     

Fabrication of carbon nanofiber by pyrolysis of freeze-dried cellulose nanofiber

The possibility of fabricating carbon nanofibers from cellulose nanofibers was investigated. Cellulose nanofiber of ~50 nm in diameter was produced using ball milling in an eco-friendly manner. The effect of the drying techniques of cellulose nanofibers on the morphology of carbon residue was studied. After pyrolysis of freeze-dried cellulose nanofibers below 600 °C, amorphous carbon fibers of ~20 nm in diameter were obtained. The pyrolysis of oven-dried precursors resulted in the loss of original fibrous structures. The different results arising from the two drying techniques are attributed to the difference in the spatial distance between cellulose nanofiber precursors.     

Novel bound states treatment of the two dimensional Schrödinger equation with pseudocentral potentials plus multiparameter noncentral potential

By converting the rectangular basis potential V(x, y) into the form as \({V({r}) + V({r},\varphi)}\) described by the pseudo central plus noncentral potential, particular solutions of the two dimensional Schrödinger equation in plane-polar coordinates have been carried out through the analytic approaching technique of the Nikiforov and Uvarov. Both the exact bound state energy spectra and the corresponding bound state wavefunctions of the complete system are determined explicitly and in closed forms. Our presented results are identical to those of the previous works and they may also be useful for investigation and analysis of structural characteristics in a variety of quantum systems.     

Development and validation of a rapid LC-ESI-MS/MS method for quantification of fluoxetine and its application to MS binding assays

In the present study, a rapid and sensitive LC-ESI-MS/MS method for quantification of (S)-fluoxetine as a native marker in mass spectrometry (MS) binding assays addressing the human serotonin transporter (hSERT) was developed and validated. The concept of MS binding assays based on mass spectrometric quantification of a nonlabeled marker recently introduced by us represents a promising alternative to conventional radioligand binding without the drawbacks inherently connected with radioisotope labeling. For high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), a 20 × 2-mm RP-18 column with a mobile phase composed of acetonitrile and ammonium bicarbonate buffer (5 mmol L⁻¹, pH 9.5) at a ratio of 80:20 (v/v) and a flow rate of 800 μL min⁻¹ in an isocratic mode were used, resulting in a chromatographic cycle time of 60 s. Employing [²H₅]fluoxetine as internal standard enabled ESI-MS/MS quantification of (S)-fluoxetine between 3 nmol L⁻¹ and 50 pmol L⁻¹ (LLOQ) in matrix obtained from binding experiments without the need of any sample preparation. Validation of the method showed that linearity, intra-, and inter-batch accuracy as well as precision meet the requirements of the FDA guidance for bioanalytical method validation. Considering sensitivity and speed, the established method is clearly superior to those published for biological matrices so far. Furthermore, the method was transferred to other RP-18 columns of different lengths and respective validation experiments demonstrated its versatility and chromatographic robustness. Finally, the newly developed method was successfully applied to MS binding assays for hSERT. The affinity determined for (S)-fluoxetine in saturation experiments was in good agreement with literature data obtained in respective radioligand binding assays.