The expanding role of mass spectrometry in the field of vaccine development.

Biological mass spectrometry has evolved as a core analytical technology in the last decade mainly because of its unparalleled ability to perform qualitative as well as quantitative profiling of enormously complex biological samples with high mass accuracy, sensitivity, selectivity and specificity. Mass spectrometry-based techniques are also routinely used to assess glycosylation and other post-translational modifications, disulfide bond linkage, and scrambling as well as for the detection of host cell protein contaminants in the field of biopharmaceuticals. The role of mass spectrometry in vaccine development has been very limited but is now expanding as the landscape of global vaccine development is shifting towards the development of recombinant vaccines. In this review, the role of mass spectrometry in vaccine development is presented, some of the ongoing efforts to develop vaccines for diseases with global unmet medical need are discussed and the regulatory challenges of implementing mass spectrometry techniques in a quality control laboratory setting are highlighted.

Fourth derivative spectrophotometric determination of fungicide thiram (tetramethyldithiocarbamate) using sodium molybdate and its application.

A procedure has been developed for the direct fourth derivative spectrophotometric determination of tetramethyldithiocarbamate by converting it into its molybdenum complex, which is then extracted in to methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK). Beer's law is obeyed over the concentration range 24mugmL(-1) in the final solution. The analytical sensitivity is calculated to be 0.004(d(4)A/dlambda(4)) mug(-1)mL(-1) from the slope of the calibration curve. The detection limit is 0.3mugmL(-1) for thiram (signal to noise ratio = 2). Various parameters, such as effect of acid concentration, interference of a large number of ions in the determination of thiram have been studied in detail. The method is sensitive, highly selective and can be used for the determination of thiram in a commercial sample, in mixtures with various dithiocarbamates (zineb, maneb, etc.) and from wheat grains.

Column preconcentration and spectrophotometric determination of ziram and zineb in commercial samples and foodstuffs using (1,2'-pyridylazo)-2-naphthol (PAN)-naphthalene as adsorbate.

A procedure has been developed for the determination of zinc(II) bis(dimethyldithiocarbamate) (ziram) and zinc(II) ethylenebis(dithiocarbamate) (zineb) after preconcentration on a column using naphthalene-(1,2'-pyridylazo)-2-naphthol (PAN) as adsorbent. Ziram and zineb are quantitatively retained on the column in the pH range of 9.0-12.5 and at a flow rate of 1-2 mL/min. The solid mass consisting of the Zn-PAN complex along with naphthalene is dissolved from the column with 5 mL of dimethylformamide (DMF). Absorbance of the complex was measured at 550 nm; Beer's law is obeyed over the concentration ranges of 2.0-22.0 microg of ziram and 5.0-19.8 microg of zineb in 10 mL of the final DMF solution. Ten replicate determinations on a sample solution containing 20 microg of ziram and 18 microg of zineb gave a mean absorbance of 0.33 with relative standard deviations of 0.80 and 0.70%, respectively. The interference of various ions has been studied. The method has been employed for the determination of ziram and zineb in commercial samples and in various foodstuffs, and the results were compared with the earlier reported methods.

Thiram: degradation, applications and analytical methods.

In this review a brief introduction to thiram (tetramethylthiuram disulfide; TMTD) pesticide has been given along with other applications. All the important methods available are systematically arranged and are listed under various techniques. Some of these methods have been applied for the determination of thiram in commercial formulations, synthetic mixtures in grains, vegetables and fruits. A comparison of different methods is the salient feature of this review.