Development and validation of an LC–MS/MS method for the quantification of artificial sweeteners in human matrices

Artificial sweeteners are widely used as substitutes for sugar. The sweeteners are generally considered safe, however their whereabouts during pregnancy and lactation and the effect on child development are poorly explored. There is a need for new tools to measure these substances during pregnancy and lactation. Here, we describe the development and validation of a sensitive liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry method for the simultaneous quantification of acesulfame, cyclamate, saccharin and sucralose in human plasma, umbilical cord blood, amniotic fluid and breast milk. The samples were prepared by protein precipitation and separated on a Luna Omega Polar C₁₈ column (2.1 × 50 mm, 1.6 μm). Electrospray ionization in negative mode and multiple reaction monitoring were used to monitor the ion transitions. The validated concentration ranges were from 1 to 500 ng/ml (10–500 ng/ml for sucralose). Interassay precisions were all ≤15% and the accuracies were within ±15%. Stability, linearity, dilution integrity, carryover and recovery were also examined and satisfied the validation criteria. Finally, this analytical method was successfully applied on spiked samples of plasma, umbilical cord blood, amniotic fluid and breast milk, proving its suitability for use in clinical studies on artificial sweeteners, including during pregnancy and lactation.     

G-Quadruplex Recognition by DARPIns through Epitope/Paratope Analogy**

We investigated the mechanisms leading to the specific recognition of Guanine Guadruplex (G4) by DARPins peptides, which can lead to the design of G4 s specific sensors. To this end we carried out all-atom molecular dynamic simulations to unravel the interactions between specific nucleic acids, including human-telomeric (h-telo), Bcl-2, and c-Myc, with different peptides, forming a DARPin/G4 complex. By comparing the sequences of DARPin with that of a peptide known for its high affinity for c-Myc, we show that the recognition cannot be ascribed to sequence similarity but, instead, depends on the complementarity between the three-dimensional arrangement of the molecular fragments involved: the α-helix/loops domain of DARPin and the G4 backbone. Our results reveal that DARPins tertiary structure presents a charged hollow region in which G4 can be hosted, thus the more complementary the structural shapes, the more stable the interaction.     

Computational Insights into the Catalytic Mechanism of Is-PETase: An Enzyme Capable of Degrading Poly(ethylene) Terephthalate

Is-PETase has become an enzyme of significant interest due to its ability to catalyse the degradation of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) at mesophilic temperatures. We performed hybrid quantum mechanics and molecular mechanics (QM/MM) at the DSD-PBEP86-D3/ma-def2-TZVP/CHARMM27//rev-PBE-D3/dev2-SVP/CHARMM level to calculate the energy profile for the degradation of a suitable PET model by this enzyme. Very low overall barriers are computed for serine protease-type hydrolysis steps (as low as 34.1 kJ mol⁻¹). Spontaneous deprotonation of the final product, terephthalic acid, with a high computed driving force indicates that product release could be rate limiting.     

新型手性杀虫剂唑虫酯异构体拆分及其在蔬菜中的分析方法建立

以全新手性杀虫剂唑虫酯为研究对象,通过筛选手性色谱柱和优化流动相比例,建立了唑虫酯及其氧化代谢物异构体的拆分方法,在此基础上开发利用高效液相色谱-串联质谱(HPLC-MS/MS)同时测定小白菜和蕹菜中唑虫酯及其氧化产物手性异构体的分析方法。以纤维素-三(3,5-二氯苯基氨基甲酸酯)共价键合手性柱(Chiral INC)(250 mm×4.6 mm, 5 μm)为分析柱,乙腈和2 mmol/L甲酸铵水溶液作为流动相进行梯度洗脱分离,在多反应监测负离子模式下进行检测,唑虫酯4个异构体分离度分别为1.63、2.83和1.74,唑虫酯氧化产物异构体分离度为5.82。通过衍生化的方法进一步确定出峰顺序为RS-唑虫酯、SS-唑虫酯、RR-唑虫酯、SR-唑虫酯、S-唑虫酯氧化产物和R-唑虫酯氧化产物。唑虫酯和其氧化产物的手性异构体分别在1.25~1250 μg/L和2.5~2500 μg/L范围内具有良好的线性关系,相关系数(R²)大于0.99。在蕹菜和小白菜样品中同时添加唑虫酯和唑虫酯氧化产物消旋体进行添加回收试验,添加水平为1、20、400 μg/kg(即唑虫酯异构体为0.25、5、100 μg/kg;唑虫酯氧化代谢产物异构体为0.5、10、200 μg/kg),回收率为72.6%~110.6%,相对标准偏差(RSD)均在9.4%以下,其中日内重复性的RSD在0.5%~9.4%之间;日间重复性的RSD在1.0%~8.6%之间,表明该方法具有良好的回收率和精密度。该研究可为唑虫酯这一新型手性农药的环境行为研究及后续质量控制、药效评价等提供相应的分析技术,为新农药开发应用提供有力的技术支撑。     

免疫亲和柱净化-超高效液相色谱-三重四极杆质谱法高灵敏测定尿液和血浆中3种鹅膏毒肽

建立了超高效液相色谱-三重四极杆质谱高灵敏测定尿液和血浆中α-鹅膏毒肽、β-鹅膏毒肽和γ-鹅膏毒肽的方法。经过免疫亲和柱净化,尿液样品浓缩20倍、血浆样品浓缩10倍,以Kinetex Biphenyl色谱柱(100 mm×2.1 mm, 1.7 μm)作为分析柱,甲醇-0.005%(v/v)甲酸水溶液作为流动相进行梯度洗脱分离,电喷雾电离、负离子、多反应监测模式下检测,外标法定量。3种鹅膏毒肽的线性范围为0.1~200 ng/mL,相关系数(r)>0.999。尿液和血浆中3种鹅膏毒肽的基质效应和提取回收率分别为92%~108%和90%~103%,变异系数均小于13%。尿液中3种鹅膏毒肽的准确度为-9.4%~8.0%,重复性和中间精度分别为3.0%~14%和3.5%~18%,当取样量为2.00 mL时,方法的检出限均为0.002 ng/mL;血浆中3种鹅膏毒肽的准确度为-13%~8.0%,重复性和中间精度分别为3.9%~9.7%和5.5%~12%,当取样量为1.00 mL时,方法的检出限均为0.004 ng/mL。该法操作简单、灵敏、准确,已在中毒患者摄入野生蘑菇后138 h的尿液中检出0.0067 ng/mL α-鹅膏毒肽和0.0059 ng/mL β-鹅膏毒肽。该法已成功解决中毒患者尿液和血浆中超痕量鹅膏毒肽的检测难题,对于疑似中毒病人的早诊断、早治疗、降低死亡率都具有非常重要意义,也为今后开展此类毒素毒理作用及机体代谢规律的研究提供了可靠的技术支撑。     

Fabrication of a Simple and Cheap Screen-printed Silver/Silver Chloride (Ag/AgCl) Quasi-reference Electrode

In this work, a silver/silver chloride ink is fabricated using two steps. First the silver ink is prepare using silver, nail polish and acetone. Then the silver ink is painted in a paper substrate and a silver chloride layer is deposited using a bleach solution. The result is the silver/silver chloride conductive ink. The silver ink is cheap ($2.49/g), well-dispersive and very easy to fabricate. The materials were characterized by SEM and XRD. The Ag ink showed the formation of a continuous network throughout the silver ink film with fewer agglomeration. The effective chlorination process was also observed in the Ag/AgCl characterization. Since the Ag/AgCl substrate will be used as a quasi-reference electrode, it is important to investigate the electrical properties. The Ag ink showed an average ohmic resistance of 2.27 Ω. The addition of the AgCl layer decreases the conductivity, as expected. In summary, the Ag/Ag/Cl ink developed is simple, well-dispersed, cheap and with good conductivity. Therefore, it can be used as a conductive ink in the fabrication of quasi-reference electrodes.     

Synthesis and antimicrobial bioassays of 1,3,4-thiadiazole sulfone derivatives containing amide moiety: A study based on molecular dynamics (MD) simulations,MM/GBSA,and molecular docking

The backbone structure (1,3,4-thiadiazole sulfone derivatives containing amide moiety) of target compounds was determined by modification and optimization of the theoretical design based on commercial chemical carboxin, including molecular docking, scaffold hopping, ligand expansion, etc.In this paper, 23 target compounds were synthesized by the combination of theoretical design and chemical synthesis, and characterized by ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR and HR MS. Addtionally, the antibacterical bioassay showed that most target compounds performed excellent inhibition on Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. citri (Xac) and Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) in vitro. Meanwhile, molecular docking, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, and studies on ligand/protein (carboxin/2FBW and 4n/2FBW) complex systems were displayed, and the interaction patterns of ligand/protein complex system were predicted by molecular docking. Besides, the ligand/protein complex system was subject to MD simulation. The analysis of molecular dynamics such as RMSD values suggested that compound/2FBW complexes were stable. MM/GBSA (Molecular mechanics generalized born surface area) dynamic binding affinity results revealed that the active residues (TYR58, HIS26, ARG43, SER39, etc.) played an essential part in the binding of the compound(s) to form a stable low-energy ligand/protein complex, while the MD trajectories demonstrated that the interactions of drugs with 2FBW affected the tertiary structure and increased the stability of protein. Besides, compound 4n also showed control efficacies (curative and protective) on Xoo in vivo, where the curative efficacy was 35.91% and the protective efficacy was 18.97%. In a word, this study showed that 1,3,4-thiadiazole sulfone derivatives containing amide moiety designed based on the structure of carboxin were promising agricultural antibacterial agents, featuring certain stability of binding affinity to proteins and carboxin.     

Temperature and Composition Dependent Optical Properties of CdSe/CdS Dot/Rod-Based Aerogel Networks

Employing nanocrystals (NCs) as building blocks of porous aerogel network structures allows the conversion of NC materials into macroscopic solid structures while conserving their unique nanoscopic properties. Understanding the interplay of the network formation and its influence on these properties like size-dependent emission is a key to apply techniques for the fabrication of novel nanocrystal aerogels. In this work, CdSe/CdS dot/rod NCs possessing two different CdSe core sizes were synthesized and converted into porous aerogel network structures. Temperature-dependent steady-state and time-resolved photoluminescence measurements were performed to expand the understanding of the optical and electronic properties of these network structures generated from these two different building blocks and correlate their optical with the structural properties. These investigations reveal the influence of network formation and aerogel production on the network-forming nanocrystals. Based on the two investigated NC building blocks and their aerogel networks, mixed network structures with various ratios of the two building blocks were produced and likewise optically characterized. Since the different building blocks show diverse optical response, this technique presents a straightforward way to color-tune the resulting networks simply by choosing the building block ratio in connection with their quantum yield.     

微生物铁氧化还原作用对水中砷锑去除影响的研究进展

砷锑污染在全球领域广泛存在,与常规的铁氧化物相比,微生物铁氧化生成的含Fe(Ⅲ)矿物对水中砷/锑(As/Sb)具有更强的吸附能力,并因其高效、实用和环境友好而具有广阔的应用前景,但微生物铁还原也可能导致被吸附的As/Sb再次释放。本文综述了微生物铁氧化还原作用对As/Sb去除影响的研究进展,归纳了铁矿物“合成-溶解-转化”的微生物循环过程以及该循环伴随的水中As/Sb固定、溶解与转化机理,整合了微生物合成Fe(Ⅲ)矿物的矿物学性质、对As/Sb固定的热动力学规律和络合机制,总结了微生物合成Fe(Ⅲ)矿物对As/Sb去除的影响因素,基于该研究的现存问题展望了利用微生物铁氧化还原作用去除As/Sb的发展方向。     

Bipolar Electrode-based Electrochromic Devices for Analytical Applications – A Review

Bipolar electrode-based (BPE-based) electrochromic devices have garnered increasing attention in the past decade. These BPE-based electrochromic devices have been used for analytical health monitoring, point-of-care (POC) diagnostics, and chemical sensing. In this review, we highlight recent progress made regarding BPE-based electrochromic devices constructed for these analytical applications. Various, available electrochromic materials are summarized in the first section, after which the different device types (e. g., paper-based and self-powered) are discussed. Biological- and chemical-based analytical demonstrations of these devices are then reviewed. Finally, we conclude this review with a perspective on the future developments of BPE-based electrochromic devices in analytical applications.