Quantitative sphingosine measurement as a surrogate for total ceramide concentration—preclinical and potential translational applications

Biomarkers are an increasingly important constituent of the drug development process, offering the potential of increased efficiency through reduced compound attrition and earlier proof of mechanism and/or efficacy. Assays developed for compound screening that can be directly translated for clinical trials are especially valuable, but their successful adoption requires a careful balance between assay performance and implementation costs. One such ‘fit‐for‐purpose’ biomarker assay, the indirect measurement of pharmacological modulation of sphingolipid biosynthesis and disposition, is presented here. Among spingolipids, numerous ceramide species are readily detectable in different lipoprotein fractions of mammalian plasma, but their parallel quantification can be prohibitively expensive and time consuming. Ceramides differ in their fatty acid moiety, which is readily removed by hydrolysis, yielding a common sphingosine derivative, the measurement of which serves as an indicator of total ceramide. When followed by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) for detection, robust analyte quantification becomes relatively straightforward. The practical utility of a method developed to be fit for the purpose of rapidly and quantitatively measuring treatment‐induced variations in total ceramide from hamster plasma and individual lipoprotein fractions is described. With a linear calibration range from 0.003 to 33.4 μm sphingosine, precision and accuracy error in plasma‐based quality controls spiked with ceramides was less than 15%. The specificity of the assay for ceramides was also assessed. The simplicity of the method would allow for its potential translation to other preclinical species, as well as for clinical applications in later‐stage drug development. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Etudes sur les composés organométalliques I action du chlorure de benzylmagnésium et du bromure de phénylmagnésium sur le tétrachlorure de titane

The reactions between phenylmagnesium bromide or benzylmagnesium chloride and titanium tetrachloride have been studied. The influence of the introduction order of the reagents is mentioned. Decomposition of the (non-isolated) compounds R_nTiX_4-n is shown to be essentially intermolecular, and rarely intramolecular.     

Migration électrolytique d'ions argent radioactifs dans des macrocristaux de bromure d'argent

A cylindrical disk of macrocrystalline silver bromide marked on one side with radioactive silver ions (^110mAg) has been used as a diaphragm for electrolysis between two cells filled with water in which two platinum electrodes were immersed.     

Etudes sur les composés organométalliques II [1] Etude spectrophotométrique IR. de quelques complexes de TiCl4 avec la pyridine et des pyridines substituées

The preparation of some complexes of titanium tetrachloride with pyridine and substituted pyridines is described. The IR. spectra of the complexes compared with those of the pure ligands (L) indicate the presence of L→Ti dative bonds in the complexes.     

Optical scatter imaging: subcellular morphometry in situ with Fourier filtering

We demonstrate a quantitative optical scatter imaging (OSI) technique, based on Fourier filtering, for detecting alterations in the size of particles with wavelength-scale dimensions. We generate our scatter image by taking the ratio of images collected at high and low numerical aperture in central dark-field microscopy. Such an image spatially encodes the ratio of wide to narrow angle scatter and hence provides a measure of local particle size. We validated OSI on sphere suspensions and live cells. In live cells, OSI revealed biochemically induced morphological changes that were not apparent in unprocessed differential interference contrast images. Unlike high-resolution imaging methods, OSI can provide size information for particles smaller than the camera's spatial resolution.     

Etude sur les composés organométalliques III [1]. Action d'organomagnésiens sur des complexes du tétrachlorure de titane

The reaction between RM_gX and TiCl₄,2L (L = pyridine, piperidine or quinoleine) is shown to give a high yield of organo-titanium (IV) compounds. As expected, the decomposition of the latter is reduced to a minimum by the ligand L initially present, allowing the preparation of etheral solutions of R₄Ti (R = benzyl, phenyl or butyl). R₄Ti is obtained whatever may be the initial molar ratio of RM_gX/TiCl₄, 2L.     

Measurement of subcellular texture by optical Gabor-like filtering with a digital micromirror device

We demonstrate an optical Fourier processing method to quantify object texture arising from subcellular feature orientation within unstained living cells. Using a digital micromirror device as a Fourier spatial filter, we measured cellular responses to two-dimensional optical Gabor-like filters optimized to sense orientation of nonspherical particles, such as mitochondria, with a width around 0.45 microm. Our method showed significantly rounder structures within apoptosis-defective cells lacking the proapoptotic mitochondrial effectors Bax and Bak, when compared with Bax/Bak expressing cells functional for apoptosis, consistent with reported differences in mitochondrial shape in these cells. By decoupling spatial frequency resolution from image resolution, this method enables rapid analysis of nonspherical submicrometer scatterers in an undersampled large field of view and yields spatially localized morphometric parameters that improve the quantitative assessment of biological function.