Optimized 13C-TrEnDi Enhances the Sensitivity of Plasmenyl Ether Glycerophospholipids and Demonstrates Compatibility with Other Derivatization Strategies.

The identification and quantitation of plasmalogen glycerophospholipids is challenging due to their isobaric overlap with plasmanyl ether-linked glycerophospholipids, susceptibility to acid degradation, and their typically low abundance in biological samples. Trimethylation enhancement using diazomethane (TrEnDi) can be used to significantly enhance the signal of glycerophospholipids through the creation of quaternary ammonium groups producing fixed positive charges using 13C-diazomethane in complex lipid extracts. Although TrEnDi requires a strong acid for complete methylation, we report an optimized protocol using 10 mM HBF4 with the subsequent addition of a buffer solution that prevents acidic hydrolysis of plasmalogen species and enables the benefits of TrEnDi to be realized for this class of lipids. These optimized conditions were applied to aliquots of bovine liver extract (BLE) to achieve permethylation of plasmalogen lipids within a complex mixture. Treating aliquots of unmodified and TrEnDi-derivatized BLE samples with 80% formic acid and comparing their liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LCMS) results to analogous samples not treated with formic acid, enabled the identification of 29 plasmalogen species. On average, methylated plasmalogen species from BLE demonstrated 2.81-fold and 28.1-fold sensitivity gains over unmodified counterparts for phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine plasmalogen species, respectively. Furthermore, the compatibility of employing 13C-TrEnDi and a previously reported iodoacetalization strategy was demonstrated to effectively identify plasmenyl-ether lipids in complex biological extracts at greater levels of sensitivity. Overall, we detail an optimized 13C-TrEnDi derivatization strategy that enables the analysis of plasmalogen glycerophospholipids with no undesired cleavage of radyl groups, boosting their sensitivity in LCMS and LCMS/MS analyses.

A non-FRET DNA reporter that changes fluorescence colour upon nuclease digestion.

Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) reporters are commonly used in the final stages of nucleic acid amplification tests to indicate the presence of nucleic acid targets, where fluorescence is restored by nucleases that cleave the FRET reporters. However, the need for dual labelling and purification during manufacturing contributes to the high cost of FRET reporters. Here we demonstrate a low-cost silver nanocluster reporter that does not rely on FRET as the on/off switching mechanism, but rather on a cluster transformation process that leads to fluorescence color change upon nuclease digestion. Notably, a 90 nm red shift in emission is observed upon reporter cleavage, a result unattainable by a simple donor-quencher FRET reporter. Electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry results suggest that the stoichiometric change of the silver nanoclusters from Ag13 (in the intact DNA host) to Ag10 (in the fragments) is probably responsible for the emission colour change observed after reporter digestion. Our results demonstrate that DNA-templated silver nanocluster probes can be versatile reporters for detecting nuclease activities and provide insights into the interactions between nucleases and metallo-DNA nanomaterials.

Improved Chromatography and MS-Based Detection of Glyphosate and Aminomethylphosphonic Acid Using iTrEnDi.

Glyphosate (GLY), a synthetic, nonselective systemic herbicide that is particularly effective against perennial weeds, is the most used weedkiller in the world. There are growing concerns over GLY accumulation in the environment and the attendant human health-associated risks, and despite increased attention in the media, GLY and its breakdown product aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) remain elusive to many analytical strategies. Chemical derivatization coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS) addresses the challenge of quantifying low levels of GLY and AMPA in complex samples. Here we demonstrate the use of in situ trimethylation enhancement using diazomethane (iTrEnDi) to derivatize GLY and AMPA into permethylated products ([GLYTr]+ and [AMPATr]+, respectively) prior to analysis via HPLC-MS. iTrEnDi produced quantitative yields and resulted in a 12-340-fold increases in HPLC-MS-based sensitivity for [GLYTr]+ and [AMPATr]+, respectively, compared with underivatized counterparts. The limits of detection of derivatized compounds were found to be 0.99 ng/L for [GLYTr]+ and 1.30 ng/L for [AMPATr]+, demonstrating significant sensitivity improvements compared to previously established derivatization techniques. iTrEnDi is compatible with the direct derivatization of Roundup formulations. Finally, as proof of principle, a simple aqueous extraction followed by iTrEnDi enabled the detection of [GLYTr]+ and [AMPATr]+ on the exterior of field-grown soybeans that were sprayed with Roundup. Overall, iTrEnDi ameliorates issues relating to low proton affinity and chromatographic retention, boosting HPLC-MS-based sensitivity and enabling the elucidation of elusive analytes such as GLY and AMPA within agricultural systems.

Structural Characterization and Quantitation of Ether-Linked Glycerophospholipids in Peroxisome Biogenesis Disorder Tissue by Ultraviolet Photodissociation Mass Spectrometry.

The biological impact of ether glycerophospholipids (GP) in peroxisomal disorders and other diseases makes them significant targets as biomarkers for diagnostic assays or deciphering pathology of the disorders. Ether lipids include both plasmanyl and plasmenyl lipids, which each contain an ether or a vinyl ether bond at the sn-1 linkage position, respectively. This linkage, in contrast to traditional diacyl GPs, precludes their detailed characterization by mass spectrometry via traditional collisional-based MS/MS techniques. Additionally, the isomeric nature of plasmanyl and plasmenyl pairs of ether lipids introduces a further level of complexity that impedes analysis of these species. Here, we utilize 213 nm ultraviolet photodissociation mass spectrometry (UVPD-MS) for detailed characterization of phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) and phosphatidylcholine (PC) plasmenyl and plasmanyl lipids in mouse brain tissue. 213 nm UVPD-MS enables the successful differentiation of these four ether lipid subtypes for the first time. We couple this UVPD-MS methodology to reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RPLC) for characterization and relative quantitation of ether lipids from normal and diseased (Pex7 deficiency modeling the peroxisome biogenesis disorder, RCDP) mouse brain tissue, highlighting the ability to pinpoint specific structural features of ether lipids that are important for monitoring aberrant lipid metabolism in peroxisomal disorders.

Kinetic, ESI-CID-MS and Computational Studies of π-Allyliridium C,O-Benzoate-Catalyzed Allylic Amination: Understanding the Effect of Cesium Ion.

The mechanism of π-allyliridium C,O-benzoate-catalyzed allylic amination was studied by (a) reaction progress kinetic analysis (RPKA), (b) tandem ESI-MS analysis, and (c) computational studies involving density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Reaction progress kinetic analysis (RPKA) reveals a zero-order dependence on allyl acetate, first-order dependence on catalyst and fractional-order dependence on amine. These data corroborate rapid ionization of the allylic acetate followed by turnover limiting C-N bond formation. To illuminate the origins of the 0.4 kinetic order dependence on amine, ESI-MS analyses of quaternary ammonium-labelled piperazine with multistage collision induced dissociation (CID) were conducted that corroborate intervention of cesium-bridged amine dimers that dissociate to form monomeric cesium amide nucleophiles. Computational data align with RPKA and ESI-CID-MS analyses and suggest early transition states mitigate the impact of steric factors, thus enabling formation of highly substituted C-N bonds with complete levels of branched regioselectivity. Specifically, trans-effects of the iridium complex facilitate nucleophilic attack at the more substituted allyl terminus trans to phosphorus with enantioselectivity governed by steric repulsions between the chiral bisphosphine ligand and the π-allyl of a dominant diastereomer of the stereogenic-at-metal complex. Beyond defining aspects of the mechanism of π-allyliridium C,O-benzoate-catalyzed allylic amination, these data reveal that a key feature of cesium carbonate not only lies in its enhanced basicity, but also its capacity for Lewis-acid enhanced Brønsted acidification of amines.

Massively Parallel Selection of NanoCluster Beacons.

NanoCluster Beacons (NCBs) are multicolor silver nanocluster probes whose fluorescence can be activated or tuned by a proximal DNA strand called the activator. While a single-nucleotide difference in a pair of activators can lead to drastically different activation outcomes, termed polar opposite twins (POTs), it is difficult to discover new POT-NCBs using the conventional low-throughput characterization approaches. Here, a high-throughput selection method is reported that takes advantage of repurposed next-generation-sequencing chips to screen the activation fluorescence of ≈40 000 activator sequences. It is found that the nucleobases at positions 7-12 of the 18-nucleotide-long activator are critical to creating bright NCBs and positions 4-6 and 2-4 are hotspots to generate yellow-orange and red POTs, respectively. Based on these findings, a "zipper-bag" model is proposed that can explain how these hotspots facilitate the formation of distinct silver cluster chromophores and alter their chemical yields. Combining high-throughput screening with machine-learning algorithms, a pipeline is established to design bright and multicolor NCBs in silico.

Enhancing the Signal-to-Noise of Diagnostic Fragment Ions of Unsaturated Glycerophospholipids via Precursor Exclusion Ultraviolet Photodissociation Mass Spectrometry (PEx-UVPD-MS).

Understanding and elucidating the diverse structures and functions of lipids has motivated the development of many innovative tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) strategies. Higher-energy activation methods, such as ultraviolet photodissociation (UVPD), generate unique fragment ions from glycerophospholipids that can be used to perform in-depth structural analysis and facilitate the deconvolution of isomeric lipid structures in complex samples. Although detailed characterization is central to the correlation of lipid structure to biological function, it is often impeded by the lack of sufficient instrument sensitivity for highly bioactive but low-abundance phospholipids. Here, we present precursor exclusion (PEx) UVPD, a simple yet powerful technique to enhance the signal-to-noise (S/N) of informative low-abundance fragment ions produced from UVPD of glycerophospholipids. Through the exclusion of the large population of undissociated precursor ions with an MS3 strategy, the S/N of diagnostic fragment ions from PC 18:0/18:2(9Z, 12Z) increased up to an average of 13x for PEx-UVPD compared to UVPD alone. These enhancements were extended to complex mixtures of lipids from bovine liver extract to confidently identify 35 unique structures using liquid chromatography PEx-UVPD. This methodology has the potential to advance lipidomics research by offering deeper structure elucidation and confident identification of biologically active lipids.

iTrEnDi: In Situ Trimethylation Enhancement Using Diazomethane: Improved and Expanded Glycerophospholipid and Sphingolipid Analyses via a Microscale Autonomous Derivatization Platform.

Trimethylation enhancement using diazomethane (TrEnDi) is a derivatization technique that significantly enhances the signal intensity of glycerophospholipid species in mass spectrometry (MS) and tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) analyses. Here, we describe a novel apparatus that is able to conduct in situ TrEnDi (iTrEnDi) by generating and immediately reacting small amounts of gaseous diazoalkane with analyte molecules. iTrEnDi allows complete and rapid methylation of phosphatidylcholine (PC), phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), phosphatidic acid (PA), and sphingomyelin (SM) in a safe manner by removing any need for direct handling of dangerous diazoalkane solutions. iTrEnDi-modified PC ([PCTr]+) and PE ([PETr]+) showed similar sensitivity enhancements and fragmentation patterns compared to our previously reported methodology. iTrEnDi yielded dimethylated PA ([PATr]), which exhibited dramatically improved chromatographic behavior and a 14-fold increase in liquid chromatography MS (LCMS) sensitivity compared to unmodified PA. In comparison to in-solution-based TrEnDi, iTrEnDi demonstrated a modest decrease in sensitivity, likely due to analyte losses during handling. However, the enhanced safety benefits of iTrEnDi coupled with its ease of use and capacity for automation, as well as its accommodation of more-reactive diazoalkane species, vastly improve the accessibility and utility of this derivatization technique. Finally, as a proof of concept, iTrEnDi was used to produce diazoethane (DZE), a more-reactive diazoalkane than diazomethane. Reaction between DZE and PC yielded ethylated [PCTr]+, which fragmented via MS/MS to produce a high-intensity characteristic fragment ion, enabling a novel and highly sensitive precursor ion scan.

Activation of biosynthetic gene clusters by the global transcriptional regulator TRI6 in Fusarium graminearum.

In F. graminearum, the transcription factor TRI6 positively regulates the trichothecene biosynthetic gene cluster (BGC) leading to the production of the secondary metabolite 15-acetyl deoxynivalenol. Secondary metabolites are not essential for survival, instead, they enable the pathogen to successfully infect its host. F. graminearum has the potential to produce a diverse array of secondary metabolites (SMs). However, given high functional specificity and energetic cost, most of these clusters remain silent, unless the organism is subjected to an environment conducive to SM production. Alternatively, secondary metabolite gene clusters (SMCs) can be activated by genetically manipulating their activators or repressors. In this study, a combination of transcriptomic and metabolomics analyses with a deletion and overexpressor mutants of TRI6 was used to establish the role of TRI6 in the regulation of several BGCs in F. graminearum. Evidence for direct and indirect regulation of BGCs by TRI6 was obtained by chromatin immunoprecipitation and yeast two-hybrid experiments. The results showed that the trichothecene genes are under direct control, while the gramillin gene cluster is indirectly controlled by TRI6 through its interaction with the pathway-specific transcription factor GRA2.

Coupling Headgroup and Alkene Specific Solution Modifications with Gas-Phase Ion/Ion Reactions for Sensitive Glycerophospholipid Identification and Characterization.

Shotgun lipidomics provides sensitive and fast lipid identification without the need for chromatographic separation. Challenges faced by shotgun analysis of glycerophospholipids (GPs) include the lack of signal uniformity across GP classes and the inability to determine the carbon-carbon double bond (C═C) location within the fatty acyl chains of an unsaturated species. Two distinct derivatization strategies were employed to both enhance the ionization of GPs, via trimethylation enhancement using 13C-diazomethane (13C-TrEnDi), as well as determine location of double bonds within fatty acyl chains, employing an in-solution photochemical reaction with acetone (via the Paternò-Büchi reaction). The modified GPs were then subjected to positive ion mode ionization via electrospray ionization, producing uniform ionization efficiencies for different classes of GP species. The GPs were charge inverted via gas-phase ion/ion reactions and sequentially fragmented using ion trap collision-induced dissociation (CID). The CID of the species led to fragmentation producing diagnostic ions indicative of C═C bond location. The approach enabled enhanced ionization and the identification of phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine species at the C═C level in a bovine lipid extract.

Trimethylation Enhancement Using 13C-Diazomethane: Gas-Phase Charge Inversion of Modified Phospholipid Cations for Enhanced Structural Characterization.

Methylation of phospholipids (PL) leads to increased uniformity in positive electrospray ionization (ESI) efficiencies across the various PL subclasses. This effect is realized in the approach referred to as "trimethylation enhancement using 13C-diazomethane" (13C-TrEnDi), which results in the methyl esterification of all acidic sites and the conversion of amines to quaternary ammonium sites. Collision-induced dissociation (CID) of these cationic modified lipids enables class identification by forming distinctive headgroup fragments based on the number of 13C atoms incorporated during derivatization. However, there are no distinctive fragment ions in positive mode that provide fatty acyl information for any of the modified lipids. Gas-phase ion/ion reactions of 13C-TrEnDi-modified phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), phosphatidylserine (PS), phosphatidylcholine (PC), and sphingomyelin (SM) cations with dicarboxylate anions are shown to charge-invert the positively charged phospholipids to the negative mode. An electrostatically bound complex anion is shown to fragment predominantly via a novel headgroup dication transfer to the reagent anion. Fragmentation of the resulting anionic product yields fatty acyl information, in the case of the glycerophospholipids (PE, PS, and PC), via ester bond cleavage. Analogous information is obtained from modified SM lipid anions via amide bond cleavage. Fragmentation of the anions generated from charge inversion of the 13C-TrEnDi-modified phospholipids was also found to yield lipid class information without having to perform CID in positive mode. The combination of 13C-TrEnDi modification of lipid mixtures with charge inversion to the negative-ion mode retains the advantages of uniform ionization efficiency in the positive-ion mode with the additional structural information available in the negative-ion mode without requiring the lipids to be ionized directly in both ionization modes.

Trimethylation Enhancement Using (13)C-Diazomethane ((13)C-TrEnDi): Increased Sensitivity and Selectivity of Phosphatidylethanolamine, Phosphatidylcholine, and Phosphatidylserine Lipids Derived from Complex Biological Samples.

Significant sensitivity enhancements in the tandem mass spectrometry-based analysis of complex mixtures of several phospholipid classes has been achieved via (13)C-TrEnDi. (13)C-TrEnDi-modified phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), phosphatidylserine (PS), and phosphatidylcholine (PC) lipids extracted from HeLa cells demonstrated greater sensitivity via precursor ion scans (PISs) than their unmodified counterparts. Sphingomyelin (SM) species exhibited neither an increased nor decreased sensitivity following modification. The use of isotopically labeled diazomethane enabled the distinction of modified PE and modified PC species that would yield isobaric species with unlabeled diazomethane. (13)C-TrEnDi created a PE-exclusive PIS of m/z 202.1, two PS-exclusive PISs of m/z 148.1 and m/z 261.1, and a PIS of m/z 199.1 for PC species (observed at odd m/z values) and SM species (observed at even m/z values). The standardized average area increase after TrEnDi modification was 10.72-fold for PE species, 2.36-fold for PC, and 1.05-fold for SM species. The sensitivity increase of PS species was not quantifiable, as there were no unmodified PS species identified prior to derivatization. (13)C-TrEnDi allowed for the identification of 4 PE and 7 PS species as well as the identification and quantitation of an additional 4 PE and 4 PS species that were below the limit of detection (LoD) prior to modification. (13)C-TrEnDi also pushed 24 PE and 6 PC lipids over the limit of quantitation (LoQ) that prior to modification were above the LoD only.

Efficient, scalable and economical preparation of tris(deuterium)- and 13C-labelled N-methyl-N-nitroso-p-toluenesulfonamide (Diazald®) and their conversion to labelled diazomethane.

A method for the preparation of multi-gramme quantities of N-methyl-d3-N-nitroso-p-toluenesulfonamide (Diazald-d3) and N-methyl-(13)C-N-nitroso-p-toluenesulfonamide (Diazald-(13)C) and their conversion to diazomethane-d2 and diazomethane-(13) C, respectively, is presented. This approach uses robust and reliable chemistry, and critically, employs readily commercially available and inexpensive methanol as the label source. Several reactions of labelled diazomethane are also reported, including alkene cyclopropanation, phenol methylation and α-diazoketone formation, as well as deuterium scrambling in the preparation of diazomethane-d2 and subsequent methyl esterification of benzoic acid.