Tandem mass spectrometric approach for determining structure of molecular species of aminophospholipids

Aminophospholipids, including glycerophosphatidylethanolamine, glycerophosphatidylserine and their Lyso analogous, have been analyzed by positive and negative ion liquid secondary ion ionization coupled to tandem mass spectrometry. The mass spectra of aminophospholipids obtained by tandem mass spectrometers with different configuration (liquid secondary ion-electric-magnetic sector coupled to quadrupole mass analyzer (low-energy collision) or electricmagnetic sector (high-energy collision), as well as electrospray ionization-quadrupole mass analyzer combined with quadrupole mass analyzer (low-energy collision), are compared. The mass spectra produced by low-energy collisionally induced dissociation of the deprotonated molecules from aminophospholipids contain fragment ions for characterizing polar head moieties as well as fatty acid composition and position. The mass spectra generated by high-energy collisionally induced dissociation of both protonated and deprotonated molecules from aminophospholipids show numerous product ions for identifying polar heads, composition, and location of fatty acid chains in molecular species. Triple quadrupole mass spectrometer with electrospray ionization exhibits remarkable superiority in detection sensitivity. Liquid secondary ion with electric-magnetic sector coupled to quadrupole mass analyzer or electric-magnetic sector instrument has the advantage of the capability of properly determining location of fatty acid chains in molecular species. This paper also describes an approach for structurally analyzing aminophospholipid species as 9-fluorenylmethyloxy-carbonyl derivatives by positive and negative ion liquid secondary ion mass spectrometry and high-energy collisionally induced dissociation tandem mass spectrometry. It has been found that the derivatives of glycerophosphatidylethanolamine and glycerophosphatidylserine can readily be analyzed by the negative ion liquid secondary ion and tandem mass spectrometric methods.     

Quantification of Pentafluorobenzyl Oxime Derivatives of Long Chain Aldehydes by GC–MS Analysis

Negative ion mass spectrometric techniques, for compounds having good ionization properties, such as pentafluorobenzyl derivatives, are believed to be more sensitive than positive ion methods. Preparation of PFB oximes of fatty aldehydes from crude lipid extracts is problematic due to the release of free aldehydes from plasmalogens during derivatization. Accordingly, in these studies plasmalogens were removed by silicic acid column chromatography prior to pentafluorobenzyl derivatization. This simple purification step to remove plasmalogens is shown to facilitate the quantification of long-chain aldehydes by analysis of their pentafluorobenzyl oxime derivatives utilizing gas chromatography–mass spectrometry in the negative ion chemical ionization mode. The limit of detection for long chain fatty aldehydes using this method is 0.5 pmol and it is linear over two orders of magnitude. Silicic acid column chromatography followed by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry demonstrated that plasmalogens were removed (the detection limit for this analyses was ≤0.3 pmol). Furthermore, we have exploited the utility and sensitivity of this method to identify increases in hexadecanal and octadecanal in 3-amino-1,2,4-triazole treated human neutrophils. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Modern mass spectrometry for coatings

For the analysis of polymers soft ionization mass spectrometry, in which only molecular ions are observed, can provide the complete distribution of chains (length, composition, end-groups) in under ten minutes on microgram quantities of material. Moreover, molecular ion information of neat organic pigments or those present in crosslinked networks can also be furnished. No other analytical technique can supply these data in such a short time. The application of mass spectrometry to the characterization of materials used in today's high performance automotive coatings is presented. These include functional monomers, several acrylic copolymers, organic pigments and an epoxide prepolymer. While there are a variety of mass spectrometric techniques, in this paper we will highlight the techniques that we have found useful for the characterization of organic coating components. The selection of the mass spectrometric technique is dictated by the molecular weight of the material and to a lesser extent the chemical composition. We used potassium ionization of desorbed species (K⁺IDS) performed on a quadrupole mass spectrometer for materials under 1000 Daltons (Da). However, many of the ingredients used in current automotive finishes fall between 1000 and 10 000 Da. For these materials we used a Fourier transform mass spectrometer (FTMS) which is well suited for this mass range and boasts the highest resolution and mass accuracy available. Direct desorption/ionization using a carbon dioxide laser is our standard method of sample introduction. Recently, we coupled a gel permeation chromatograph to our FTMS using an electrospray ionization interface. This hyphenated technique offers one of the most powerful characterization methods for the coatings chemist.     

Analysis of low erucic acid turnip rapeseed oil (Brassica campestris) by negative ion chemical ionization tandem mass spectrometry. A method giving information on the fatty acid composition in positionssn-2 andsn-1/3 of triacylglycerols

A tandem mass spectrometric method is described for the rapid analysis of fatty acid combinations in mixtures of triacylglycerols. Triacylglycerols were introduced into a triple quadrupole mass spectrometervia a direct exposure probe and deprotonated using ammonia negative ion chemical ionization. Collisionally activated spectra were obtained and the resulting fragments used to identify the fatty acid constituents, and the fatty acids preferentially located at thesn-2 position of the triacylglycerols. Fourteen major molecular weight species of purified triacylglycerols of a supercritical fluid extract of low erucic acid turnip rapeseed oil (Brassica campestris) were analyzed. The five major combinations of fatty acids comprised two thrids of the total triacylglycerols and contained oleic, linoleic and α-linolenic acids with linoleic acid favoring thesn-2 position.     

Mechanistic Investigation of Photochemical Reactions by Mass Spectrometry

This Minireview highlights the application of electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) to investigating photochemical reactions. We show possible approaches to on-line ESI-MS monitoring of photocatalytic reactions and give examples of the characterization of short-lived photochemical intermediates by ion spectroscopy. The minireview also exemplifies in-depth mass spectrometric studies of photoisomerization reactions and photofragmentation reactions. Apart from mechanistic studies, the coupling of photochemistry and mass spectrometry is a powerful approach to studying structure and properties of biomolecules. We show several examples focused on investigation of intrinsic properties of model biomolecules.     

A Thermal Desorption Chemical Ionization Ion Trap Mass Spectrometer for the Chemical Characterization of Ultrafine Aerosol Particles

The development of a thermal desorption chemical ionization ion trap mass spectrometer for the chemical characterization of ultrafine aerosol particles is reported and first experimental results are presented. Atmospheric particles are size-classified and collected using a unipolar charger, a radial differential mobility analyzer and an electrostatic precipitator, and analyzed after thermal desorption and chemical ionization using an ion trap mass spectrometer. Integration of an ion trap mass spectrometer allows for fast scans of the entire mass spectrum every 0.5 s and bears the potential to identify unknown particulate compounds by tandem mass spectrometry. Particle collection efficiencies range from 90–100% for 25 nm particles to about 50% for 40 nm particles. In the current configuration, the absolute sensitivity of the instrument with regard to ammonium is in the range of 10–100 pg NH ⁺ ₄ . In ambient samples collected in the Colorado Front Range, NH ⁺ ₄ was the major signal peak in the positive ion spectrum, and additional minor signals and peak patterns of organic compounds including methylamine were found.     

Quadrupole storage mass spectrometry of mono- and dimethylalkanes

Monomethyl and dimethylalkanes with one, two, three, four, five, and seven methylene groups separating the methyl branches were synthesized and analyzed by magnetic sector and quadrupole storage (ion trap) mass spectrometry. The spectra produced by the magnetic sector instrument were in good agreement with previously reported data, whereas the ion trap spectrometer produced ions resulting from cleavages adjacent to the branching points, markedly different than those from the magnetic sector instrument. Fragmentation patterns show that the ion trap mass spectrometer can be used to characterize branched alkanes in nanogram and subnanogram quantities.     

Identification and Quantitation of Bioactive and Taste-Related Dipeptides in Low-Salt Dry-Cured Ham

The reduction of salt in meat products influences the natural mechanisms of proteolysis occurring in their processing, and could affect the final characteristics of the product in terms of texture and flavor due to its effect on the activity of enzymes. In the present study, the quantitation of dipeptides PA, GA, VG, EE, ES, DA, and DG in low-salt Spanish dry-cured ham was carried out using a triple quadrupole mass spectrometry instrument. The developed methodology demonstrated the advantages of hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography in the removal of salt as a clean-up/separation step before ionization. This resulted in a value of 44.88 μg/g dry-cured ham for GA dipeptide, and values ranging from 2 to 8 μg/g dry-cured ham for VG, EE, ES, DA, and DG dipeptides. PA showed the lowest concentration with a value of 0.18 μg/g dry-cured ham. These outcomes prove the remarkable activity of muscular dipeptidyl peptidases during dry-curing as well as confirming the presence of these dipeptides which are related to certain taste attributes (e.g., ‘bitter’ or ‘umami’). Such dipeptides have also been confirmed as anti-inflammatory and potential cardiovascular protectors using in vitro assays, with the advantage of dipeptides small size increases their chance to resist both gastrointestinal digestion and intestinal/bloodstream transport without being degraded or modified.     

The life sciences mass spectrometry research unit

The Life Sciences Mass Spectrometry (LSMS) research unit focuses on the development of novel analytical workflows based on innovative mass spectrometric and software tools for the analysis of low molecular weight compounds, peptides and proteins in complex biological matrices. The present article summarizes some of the recent work of the unit: i) the application of matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) for mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) of drug of abuse in hair, ii) the use of high resolution mass spectrometry for simultaneous qualitative/quantitative analysis in drug metabolism and metabolomics, and iii) the absolute quantitation of proteins by mass spectrometry using the selected reaction monitoring mode.     

Gas chromatographic quantification of fatty acid methyl esters: Flame ionization detection vs. Electron impact mass spectrometry

The determination of FAME by GC is among the most commonplace analyses in lipid research. Quantification of FAME by GC with FID has been effectively performed for some time, whereas detection with MS has been used chiefly for qualitative analysis of FAME. Nonetheless, the sensitivity and selectivity of MS methods advocate a quantitative role for GC-MS in FAME analysis—an approach that would be particularly advantageous for FAME determination in complex biological samples, where spectrometric confirmation of analytes is advisable. To assess the utility of GC-MS methods for FAME quantification, a comparative study of GC-FID and GC-MS methods has been conducted. FAME in prepared solutions as well as a biological standard reference material were analyzed by GC-FID and GC-MS methods using both ion trap and quadrupole MS systems. Quantification by MS, based on total ion counts and processing of selected ions, was investigated for FAME ionized by electron impact. Instrument precision, detection limits, calibration behavior, and response factors were investigated for each approach, and quantitative results obtained by each technique were compared. Although there were a number of characteristic differences between the MS methods and FID with respect to FAME analysis, the quantitative performance of GC-MS compared satisfactorily with that of GC-FID. The capacity to combine spectrometric examination and quantitative determination advances GC-MS as a powerful alternative to GC-FID for FAME analysis.     

Electrospray ionization mass spectrometric end-group analysis of PMMA produced by radical polymerization using diacyl peroxide initiators

The type and number of end groups of poly(methyl methacrylates) from free-radical polymerization with six diacyl peroxides, R-(CO)O-O(CO)-R, acting as initiators have been analyzed via electrospray ionization mass spectrometry using an ion trap and additionally Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance for mass detection. The polymerizations were carried out in benzene solution at high initiator concentration to yield low molecular weight polymer. With R being an alkyl group, only R moieties are observed as end groups. For each oligomer size, molecules with one or two such end groups are formed, depending on whether termination occurs via disproportionation or combination. With R being an aryl type, as in di-benzoyl and di-naphthoyl peroxides, both R and R-(CO)O moieties are detected as polymeric end groups. Because of aromatic delocalization, fractions of the arylic R-(CO)O radicals are sufficiently long living at 95 °C to add to a monomer molecule prior to undergo decarboxylation.     

Quasi-dynamic mode of nanomembranes for time-of-flight mass spectrometry of proteins

Mechanical resonators realized on the nano-scale by now offer applications in mass-sensing of biomolecules with extraordinary sensitivity. The general idea is that perfect mechanical biosensors should be of extremely small size to achieve zeptogram sensitivity in weighing single molecules similar to a balance. However, the small scale and long response time of weighing biomolecules with a cantilever restrict their usefulness as a high-throughput method. Commercial mass spectrometry (MS) such as electro-spray ionization (ESI)-MS and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI)-time of flight (TOF)-MS are the gold standards to which nanomechanical resonators have to live up to. These two methods rely on the ionization and acceleration of biomolecules and the following ion detection after a mass selection step, such as time-of-flight (TOF). Hence, the spectrum is typically represented in m/z, i.e. the mass to ionization charge ratio. Here, we describe the feasibility and mass range of detection of a new mechanical approach for ion detection in time-of-flight mass spectrometry, the principle of which is that the impinging ion packets excite mechanical oscillations in a silicon nitride nanomembrane. These mechanical oscillations are henceforth detected via field emission of electrons from the nanomembrane. Ion detection is demonstrated in MALDI-TOF analysis over a broad range with angiotensin, bovine serum albumin (BSA), and an equimolar protein mixture of insulin, BSA, and immunoglobulin G (IgG). We find an unprecedented mass range of operation of the nanomembrane detector.     

Measurements of Diacylglycerols in Skeletal Muscle by Atmospheric Pressure Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometry

Diacylglycerol (DAG) is an intermediate lipid involved in the synthesis of phospholipids and triglycerides. As signaling regulators, DAG activate novel protein kinase C leading to decreased response to insulin in skeletal muscle. Alteration of DAG contents correlates with development of metabolic dysregulation in obese and diabetic conditions. Recent advances in lipidomics using mass spectrometry allow expanded measurements of various lipid species. This study describes a rapid measurement of DAG species using the triple quadrupole mass spectrometry using atmospheric pressure chemical ionization in a positive ion mode. DAG in the cells and muscle tissues were separated depending on differences in chain lengths and degree of unsaturation. The limit of detection and quantification for DAG was 0.2 to 17 pmol for this method. When C2C12 cells were treated with palmitate or oleate, we found a 12-fold and 2-fold DAG increase respectively compared to the no-treatment control. In the muscles of obese db/db mice, DAG levels were elevated by 6-fold compared to those of wild-type skeletal muscles. The present analytical method provides a rapid and sensitive quantification of DAG molecular species from various biological samples and can be used to correlate the degree of metabolic dysregulation with lipotoxic metabolites.     

氨苄西林质谱解析及其离子化方式研究

通过对于氨苄西林正离子模式质谱谱图的解析,探讨了氨苄西林的离子化方式和裂解规律。研究表明：氨苄西林存在3种质子化方式,不同的质子化方式所形成分子离子具有不同的裂解方式;质子化的质子具有明显的活性,是质谱进一步裂解的主要原因;离子化方式对于质谱峰的丰度会产生重要影响。本研究为氨苄西林质谱分析和构效关系研究提供了重要的实验基础与理论依据。     

Determination of Oxidized Phosphatidylcholines by Hydrophilic Interaction Liquid Chromatography Coupled to Fourier Transform Mass Spectrometry

A novel liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) approach for analysis of oxidized phosphatidylcholines by an Orbitrap Fourier Transform mass spectrometer in positive electrospray ionization (ESI) coupled to hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) was developed. This method depends on three selectivity criteria for separation and identification: retention time, exact mass at a resolution of 100,000 and collision induced dissociation (CID) fragment spectra in a linear ion trap. The process of chromatography development showed the best separation properties with a silica-based Kinetex column. This type of chromatography was able to separate all major lipid classes expected in mammalian samples, yielding increased sensitivity of oxidized phosphatidylcholines over reversed phase chromatography. Identification of molecular species was achieved by exact mass on intact molecular ions and CID tandem mass spectra containing characteristic fragments. Due to a lack of commercially available standards, method development was performed with copper induced oxidation products of palmitoyl-arachidonoyl-phosphatidylcholine, which resulted in a plethora of lipid species oxidized at the arachidonoyl moiety. Validation of the method was done with copper oxidized human low-density lipoprotein (LDL) prepared by ultracentrifugation. In these LDL samples we could identify 46 oxidized molecular phosphatidylcholine species out of 99 possible candidates.     

Negative ion processes for the unambiguous identification of polycyclic aromatic compounds

Electron capture negative ion processes have been applied to the determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in complex mixtures using both chemical ionization mass spectrometry and a newly developed gas chromatographic detector. The negative ion chemical ionization mass spectrometric technique allows isomeric PAH compounds to be differentiated on the basis of relative electron affinities. Compounds which have electron affinities > 0.5 eV form molecular anions while compounds with lower electron affinities are not ionized. The new gas Chromatographic detector also enables isomeric PAH to be differentiated as a function of relative electron affinities. This detector exhibits continuous tunability, allowing the gas phase reactions to be controlled to a greater degree than in the NICI experiment. This flexibility allows a wider variety of compounds to be differentiated using the g.c. detector. Additionally, the g.c. detector may be operated either as a conventional electron capture detector or as an argon ionization detector, which has virtually universal response to organics.     

碎屑锆石U-Pb年龄学的方法和发展趋势

通过文献调研,将碎屑锆石年代学的发展做了简单介绍,同时整理了同位素稀释-热电离质谱、二次离子质谱以及激光剥蚀等离子质谱等仪器的优劣特点,以及碎屑锆石分析实验中遇到的问题:1)需要进行的分析数量;2)应如何选择晶粒进行分析。对这两问题的解决方案给出了一定的意见。最后对碎屑锆石年龄学发展趋势进行了综述。     

Determination of meaty peptide in enzymatic hydrolyzate of beef protein by HPLC-MS

The purpose of this study is to detect beefy meaty peptide (BMP) in beef hydrolyzate. The synthesized BMP is used as a standard sample in the study. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)/ion trap electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) with UV detection was applied in qualitative analysis of the peptides. Six beef protein enzymatic hydrolyzate samples were separated on a Surveyor HPLC system through a SUPELCO Discovery® C₁₈ analytical column (5 μm, 15 cm×2.1 mm i.d.). The column was eluted at a flow rate of 0.2 mL/min in a linear gradient elution mode of acetronitrile-water solution with 0.1% trifluoroacetic acid. The concentration of acetronitrile was increased from 5% to 50% in 40 minutes. A Finnigan LCQ Advantage MAX instrument was used as detector to analyze with ESI-MS and ESI-MS/MS in positive mode. Among the six samples of beef protein enzymatic hydrolysate, the BMP is detected and confirmed in sample No.4 with a higher intensity of characteristic peak and is further investigated by ESI-MS/MS. As a result, BMP exists in sample No.4. The study proves that HPLC-ESI-MS/MS is a simple, rapid, sensitive method to analyze target peptides from complex polypeptides.     

Classification of Amyloidosis by Model-Assisted Mass Spectrometry-Based Proteomics

Amyloidosis is a rare disease caused by the misfolding and extracellular aggregation of proteins as insoluble fibrillary deposits localized either in specific organs or systemically throughout the body. The organ targeted and the disease progression and outcome is highly dependent on the specific fibril-forming protein, and its accurate identification is essential to the choice of treatment. Mass spectrometry-based proteomics has become the method of choice for the identification of the amyloidogenic protein. Regrettably, this identification relies on manual and subjective interpretation of mass spectrometry data by an expert, which is undesirable and may bias diagnosis. To circumvent this, we developed a statistical model-assisted method for the unbiased identification of amyloid-containing biopsies and amyloidosis subtyping. Based on data from mass spectrometric analysis of amyloid-containing biopsies and corresponding controls. A Boruta method applied on a random forest classifier was applied to proteomics data obtained from the mass spectrometric analysis of 75 laser dissected Congo Red positive amyloid-containing biopsies and 78 Congo Red negative biopsies to identify novel “amyloid signature” proteins that included clusterin, fibulin-1, vitronectin complement component C9 and also three collagen proteins, as well as the well-known amyloid signature proteins apolipoprotein E, apolipoprotein A4, and serum amyloid P. A SVM learning algorithm were trained on the mass spectrometry data from the analysis of the 75 amyloid-containing biopsies and 78 amyloid-negative control biopsies. The trained algorithm performed superior in the discrimination of amyloid-containing biopsies from controls, with an accuracy of 1.0 when applied to a blinded mass spectrometry validation data set of 103 prospectively collected amyloid-containing biopsies. Moreover, our method successfully classified amyloidosis patients according to the subtype in 102 out of 103 blinded cases. Collectively, our model-assisted approach identified novel amyloid-associated proteins and demonstrated the use of mass spectrometry-based data in clinical diagnostics of disease by the unbiased and reliable model-assisted classification of amyloid deposits and of the specific amyloid subtype.     

Sensitivity of positive ion mode electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI MS) in the analysis of purine bases in ESI MS and on-line electrochemistry ESI MS (EC/ESI MS)

A cone-shaped MS inlet and on-line electrochemistry (EC) were used to enhance the ionization efficiency in electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI MS) of purine bases. A pathway of positive ion mode ESI may involve oxidation of purine bases, guanine, adenine, xanthine and hypoxanthine, by 1e⁻, 1H⁺ processes. The electrospray process generates dimers of purine bases that are detected in ESI MS as protonated ions, except for xanthine, for which a protonated radical dimer is detected. Thus electrochemical oxidation of purine bases during ESI may generate reactive radicals that can subsequently dimerize. Dimer formation is facilitated in ESI MS when the carrier solution pH is high. The positive ion mode ESI MS ionization is consistent with the reactivity of the bases toward oxidation. Furthermore, the formation of the protonated ions, and Na⁺ and K⁺ adducts of the bases, expected in positive ion ESI MS, are observed. In addition, unusual H-bonding of purine bases guanine and xanthine is confirmed by ESI MS. Application of low EC voltage to the on-line EC cell in EC/ESI MS improves the sensitivity and correlates with the decrease of the intensity of the dimers, possibly as a result of their further oxidation.