Precise mass measurement of a double-stranded 500 base-pair (309 kDa) polymerase chain reaction product by negative ion electrospray ionization Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry

Electrospray ionization Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (ESI-FTICRMS) has been used to determine the mass of a double-stranded 500 base-pair (bp) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) product with an average theoretical mass of the blunt-ended (i.e. unadenylated) species of 308 859.35 Da. The PCR product was generated from the linearized bacteriophage Lambda genome which is a double-stranded template. Utilization of ethanol precipitation in tandem with a rapid microdialysis step to purify and desalt the PCR product was crucial to obtain a precise mass measurement. The PCR product (0.8 pmol/μL) was electrosprayed from a solution containing 75% acetonitrile, 25 mM piperidine, and 25 mM imidazole and was infused at a rate of 200 nL/min. The average molecular mass and the corresponding precision were determined using the charge-states ranging from 172 to 235 net negative charges. The experimental mass and corresponding precision (reported as the 95% confidence interval of the mean) was 309 406 +/- 27 Da (87 ppm). The mass accuracy was compromised due to the fact that the PCR generates multiple products when using Taq polymerase due to the non-template directed 3'-adenylation. This results in a mixture of three PCR products with nearly identical mass (i.e. blunt-ended, mono-adenylated and di-adenylated) with unknown relative abundances that were not resolved in the spectrum. Thus, the experimental mass will be a weighted average of the three species which, under our experimental conditions, reflects a nearly equal concentration of the mono- and di-adenylated species. This report demonstrates that precise mass measurements of PCR products up to 309 kDa (500 bp) can be routinely obtained by ESI-FTICR requiring low femtomole amounts. Copyright 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Rapid and Sensitive HPTLC Method for Determination of Epalrestat in Human Plasma

JPC – Journal of Planar Chromatography – Modern TLC - Epalrestat is a new drug for diabetic neuropathy. A new, simple, rapid very sensitive, and accurate high performance thin-layer...     

Investigation of the quantitative properties of the quadrupole orthogonal acceleration time-of-flight mass spectrometer with electrospray ionisation using 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine

This paper describes the investigation of the potential of a quadrupole orthogonal acceleration time-of-flight mass spectrometer (Q-TOF) equipped with an atmospheric pressure ionisation interface for quantitative measurements of small molecules separated by reversed phase liquid chromatography. To this end, the detection limits and linear dynamic range in particular were studied in an LC/MS/MS experiment using 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine standards and 3,4-methylenedioxyethylamphetamine for internal standardisation. In a second phase, the experiment was repeated with real biological extracts (whole blood, serum, and vitreous humour). A calibration for 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine and its metabolite 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine was prepared in each of these matrices again using 3,4-methylenedioxyethylamphetamine as internal standard. The resulting quantitative data were compared with those obtained by liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection for the same extracts. The Q-TOF results revealed excellent sensitivity and a linear dynamic range of nearly four decades (2-10 000 pg on-column, r(2) = 0.9998, 1/x weighting). Furthermore, all the calibration curves prepared in biological material were superimposable, LC/MS/MS and LC-fluorescence, and the quantitative results for actual samples compared very favourably. It was concluded that the Q-TOF achieves a linear dynamic range for quantitative LC/MS/MS work exceeding that of fluorescence detection and at much better absolute sensitivity. Copyright 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A synergetic role of Aegle marmelos fruit ash in the synthesis of biscoumarins and 2-amino-4H-chromenes

Research on Chemical Intermediates - A dry rind of Aegle marmelos (bael) fruit ash as a synergetic alternative material to an expensive, toxic and corrosive catalysts for the synthesis of...     

Vibration Control of Vertical Turbine Pump by Optimization of Vane Pitch Tolerances of an Impeller Using Statistical Techniques

The objective of the study is to find the tolerance on vane pitch dimensions of a Vertical Turbine (VT) pump impeller. For this purpose, the study is divided into two parts viz. to find the critical hydraulic eccentricity of a VT pump impeller by way of numerical simulations and design of experiments to find the vane pitch tolerance using critical hydraulic eccentricity. The effect of impeller vane pitch deviations on hydraulic unbalance is examined for a vertical turbine pump using Design of Experiments (DOE). A suitable orthogonal matrix has been selected with vane pitch at different axial locations of an impeller as the control factors. Hydraulic eccentricity, which is the output of the DOE experiments is analyzed using S/N ratio, ANOM and regression analysis to find the significant control factor effecting the hydraulic unbalance and hence vibrations. The vane pitch deviation at outlet and inlet of impeller shroud geometry are found to be the most critical factor affecting the pump vibrations.     

Electro-responsive polyacrylamide-grafted-gum ghatti copolymer for transdermal drug delivery application

An application of polyacrylamide-grafted-gum ghatti (PAAm-g-GGH) copolymer for transdermal delivery of an anti-psychotic drug, quetiapine fumerate triggered by electric stimulus was explored. The electro-responsive PAAm-g-GGH was prepared by free radical polymerization underneath nitrogen atmosphere subsequent to alkaline hydrolysis. The PAAm-g-GGH was used as drug reservoir gel and crosslinked films of GGH and PVA as rate controlling membranes (RCM). The reservoir gels were uniform and translucent; pH of gels was 6.56–7.06, which is in the pH range of skin and drug content was from 89.57% to 94.51%. The thickness of RCMs was 163–227?μ; thickness was increased with increased glutaraldehyde concentration and all the RCMs were permeable to water vapors. When electric stimulus was absent, a small amount of drug was permeated from the formulations, while drug conveyance was enhanced in the existence of stimulus. Drug permeation was increased with increase in electric stimulus from 2 to 8?mA. Over two fold increase in flux was observed after application of electric stimulus. Under “on–off” electric stimulus, faster drug permeation was seen under ‘on’ condition and permeation was decreased when stimulus was ‘off.’ Histopathology study confirmed reversible alteration of skin structure under electric stimulus.     

pH-Controlled Supramolecular Self-Assembly of Naphthalenediimide Appended l-Alanine and Ethylenediamine Asymmetric Bolaamphiphile

Design, synthesis and characterization of novel (2S)-2-[7-(2-aminoethyl)-1,3,6,8-tetraoxo-3,6,7,8-tetrahydrobenzo[lmn][3,8]phenanthrolin-2(1H)-yl]propanoic acid ( 1 ) bolaamphiphile, which combine naphthalene diimide (NDI) appended with l -alanine at one end of imide and ethylenediamine at the other end. An l -alanine bearing NDI-based asymmetric bolaamphiphile self-assembled at various pH ranging from 2 to 10 forms a variety of supramolecular nanostructures. The UV-Vis and emission spectroscopic techniques employed for the optical and photophysical properties study of bolaamphiphile 1 at various pH values. It was revealed that the change in pH alters both the optical and photophysical properties of bolaamphiphile 1 . Theoretical calculations used to investigate the electronic properties of the bolaamphiphile 1 . Dynamic light scattering experiments displayed formation of aggregates in solution and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to visualize the nanostructures formed on silicon wafers. Furthermore, the X-ray diffraction was used to determine the nanostructure's packing properties i. e. crystalline/amorphous. Experimental circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy results inferred and revealed the induction of chirality into the supramolecular systems, which was shown to be pH dependent. This study clearly demonstrates the manipulation of pH can control/tune chiral supramolecular structures and provide future methods for the development of chiral recognition and catalysis study.