液相色谱/大气压化学电离飞行时间质谱分析氢化可的松中微量杂质

采用液相色谱/大气压化学电离飞行时间质谱测定氢化可的松对照品中微量杂 质，并采用源内碰撞诱导解离质谱进行了结构定性分析。方法简单，可靠，重现性 好。     

Protein secondary structure and stability determined by combining exoproteolysis and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry

In the post-genomic era, several projects focused on the massive experimental resolution of the three-dimensional structures of all the proteins of different organisms have been initiated. Simultaneously, significant progress has been made in the ab initio prediction of protein three-dimensional structure. One of the keys to the success of such a prediction is the use of local information (i.e. secondary structure). Here we describe a new limited proteolysis methodology, based on the use of unspecific exoproteases coupled with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS), to map quickly secondary structure elements of a protein from both ends, the N- and C-termini. We show that the proteolytic patterns (mass spectra series) obtained can be interpreted in the light of the conformation and local stability of the analyzed proteins, a direct correlation being observed between the predicted and the experimentally derived protein secondary structure. Further, this methodology can be easily applied to check rapidly the folding state of a protein and characterize mutational effects on protein conformation and stability. Moreover, given global stability information, this methodology allows one to locate the protein regions of increased or decreased conformational stability. All of this can be done with a small fraction of the amount of protein required by most of the other methods for conformational analysis. Thus limited exoproteolysis, together with MALDI-TOF MS, can be a useful tool to achieve quickly the elucidation of protein structure and stability.     

Direct targeting of human plasma for matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization and analysis of plasma proteins by time of flight-mass spectrometry

A method to analyze human plasma proteins without fractionation, directly applying a plasma-matrix mixture on the target plate of a matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight-mass spectrometer (MALDI-TOF-MS), has been described. Peaks of ionized plasma proteins could not be detected applying a mixture of an undiluted plasma sample and a matrix solution, but they appeared when the plasma was diluted before mixing with the matrix. Tenfold diluted plasma provided well-resolved protein peaks in the m/z range from 4000 to 30,000. The addition of a simple post-crystallization washing procedure performed on the target plate further improved the quality of mass spectra. We numbered 58 peaks in the range of 4-160 kDa and 32 out of which were assigned to the plasma protein species which have been reported. Especially high sensitivity and resolution were obtained in the region < 30 kDa, where multiple isoforms of apolipoprotein A-I, apolipoprotein A-II, apolipoprotein C-I, apolipoprotein C-II, apolipoprotein C-III, and transthyretin could be assigned. Various post-translational modifications are involved in the isoforms, e.g., proteolytic cleavage, glycosylation and chemical modifications. This method will become complementary with the present electrophoretic techniques, especially for the analysis of low-molecular-mass proteins.     

Capillary electrophoresis coupled to time of flight-mass spectrometry of therapeutic peptide hormones

We have established a method for separation and characterization of a series of peptide hormones of pharmaceutical interest and wide therapeutical use by capillary electrophoresis-electrospray-mass spectrometry (CE-ES-MS) using a sheath flow interface. Several parameters were systematically investigated, such as concentration of the electrolyte, organic solvent and sheath liquid composition, gas flow rates and capillary position. Moreover, limits of detection, linearity, repeatability and day-to-day reproducibility of the proposed method were studied in order to obtain the main quality parameters.     

MALDI-TOF-MS法对重组人内皮抑素蛋白分子质量测定

肿瘤的生长依赖于血管的生成,新生血管不仅为肿瘤生长提供必需的营养物质,而且为肿瘤细胞扩散提供了重要的途径。1997年哈佛大学的O'Reilly等发现了一种内源性新血管生成抑制因子内皮抑素(Endoscatin),显示出特异抑制激活的血管内皮细胞增殖和肿瘤新血管生成的生物学活性,其抗肿瘤作用具有高效、低毒、无耐药性的优点。目前,内皮抑素的研究引起了国内外广泛的兴趣,在美国已进行以安全性为目的的I期临床实验,国内也有多家公司对内皮抑素进行了抗肿瘤研究并申报一类新药。内皮抑素有望成为医治肿瘤而又没有化疗和放疗的毒副作用的一种新的治疗方法,但是否能作为药物应用于临床,尚需对内皮抑素的结构特点及抑制肿瘤和内皮细胞的作用机制等方面进行许多深入的研究。     

基质辅助激光解吸附飞行时间质谱分析缩合单宁的阳离子化问题

以单价金属离子Cs 和Na 作为离子化试剂,对3种缩合单宁进行基质辅助激光解吸附飞行时间(MALD I-TOF)质谱分析。加入Na 作为阳离子化试剂,能得到较高质量的质谱图。但由于实验通道中几乎不可能完全去除的K 的干扰而会高估棓儿茶酚/表棓儿茶酚单元的组成比例,从而影响对棓儿茶酚/表棓儿茶酚单元存在与否的判断;选择Cs 作为阳离子化试剂可以避免此问题,但在复杂的缩合单宁分析中,同样因为杂质离子Na 和K 的干扰而使得质谱图变得更复杂;未去离子处理直接对缩合单宁进行MALD I-TOF质谱分析与去离子并加入Cs 的处理比去离子并加入Na 能检测到更高聚合度的高聚物,检测到离子峰强度最高的聚合物随离子不同而不同。     

Profiling and comprehensive expression analysis of ABC transporter solute-binding proteins of Bacillus subtilis membrane based on a proteomic approach

We analyzed ABC transporter solute-binding proteins (SBPs) of the Bacillus subtilis membrane using a proteomic approach. We prepared a washed cell membrane fraction that was insoluble in 134 mM nondetergent sulfobetaine and then extracted proteins using mixtures of detergents in a stepwise manner. The membrane proteins were resolved by three two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2-D PAGE) or two one-dimensional (1-D) PAGE procedures, electroblotted, and digested in the presence of 5% or 80% acetonitrile. Thereafter, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight-mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) identified 637 proteins corresponding to 15.9% of the total cellular proteins. We predicted that among these, 256 were membrane proteins, 101 were lipoproteins or secretory proteins and 280 were soluble proteins containing peripheral proteins that function in both the cytoplasm and the cell membrane such as SecA and FtsY. Among the 637 proteins, we identified 30 SBPs among 38 importers predicted by a bioinformatic search of the genome. We confirmed expression of the genes for the 30 SBPs using DNA microarray analysis. We compared the 2-D gel separation profiles of submembrane fractions solubilized by 1% n-dodecyl-beta-D-maltoside from cells cultured on Luria Bertani (LB), S7, and S7 medium without glutamate as well as DNA microarray data on LB and S7. The results suggested that YcdH, YtmK and YurO are binding proteins for Mn(++), glutamate and glucose, respectively, and that YqiX and YxeM are binding proteins for amino acids (tryptophan in S7 medium).     

In-gel deglycosylation of sodiumdodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis-separated glycoproteins for carbohydrate estimation by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Mass determination by mass spectrometric methods (electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOFMS)) of sodiumdodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE)-separated proteins is a well known procedure and reliable protocols are available. In our efforts to use the established methods to determine the molecular mass of the disulfide bridged, heterodimeric glycoprotein GP3 and to determine the carbohydrate content of each protein subunit we developed an in-gel chemical deglycosylation method. For this purpose we established experimental conditions that allow maximum extraction of the high molecular mass protein subunits and developed a routine method to apply the HF-pyridine deglycosylation protocol to proteins isolated from polyacrylamide gel pieces. The novel protocol and extraction procedure described can be used to analyze O-glycosylated proteins up to 150 kDa after SDS-PAGE separation.     

Effects of different alkali metal ions on the cationization of poly(ethylene glycol)s in matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry: a new selectivity parameter

The cationization of poly(ethylene glycol)s, PEG 4000 and PEG 6000, under matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization conditions was studied by using different concentration ratios of the sodium ion, as the reference ion, and another alkali metal ion (Li(+), K(+), Rb(+), Cs(+)). A linear correlation was found between the intensity ratio of the sodiated PEGs and PEGs cationized with alkali metal ions versus the initial concentration ratio of sodium and alkali metal ions. The slopes of these straight lines are proposed as a novel selectivity ratio for the ionization process. The intensity distribution of the cationized PEGs was also investigated. It was found that the cationized oligomers follow Poisson statistics. The M(n) and M(w) values were also evaluated. An explanation for the observed effects is given.     

A study for quality evaluation of Taxilli Herba from different hosts based on fingerprint-activity relationship modeling and multivariate statistical analysis

In this study, a fingerprint-activity relationship modeling between chemical fingerprints and antirheumatic activity was established, and multivariate statistical analysis was used to evaluate the quality of Taxilli Herba (TH) from different hosts. Characteristic fingerprints of 20 batches of TH samples were generated by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole-time of flight tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-Triple TOF-MS/MS), and the similarity analysis was calculated based on thirteen common characteristic peaks by hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA). Subsequently, nine efficacy markers were discovered by combining fingerprints and antirheumatic activity through grey correlation analysis (GCA) and bivariate correlation analysis (BCA). Meanwhile, the content of 5 constituents in 9 markers was determined by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole-linear ion trap tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-QTRAP-MS/MS). The comprehensive quality of TH was assessed using multivariate statistical analysis, including principal components analysis (PCA) and technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS). The results showed that a high dose of TH extract could markedly ameliorate arthritis damage compared to other doses, with flavonoids playing an important role in the antirheumatic activity. The comprehensive quality of samples from Morus alba L. (SS) was superior to those from Liquidambar formosana Hance (FXS). The present study will demonstrate the markers associated with efficacy, and provide an applicable strategy for more comprehensive quality control and evaluation of TH.