Identification of umami peptides from Wuding chicken by Nano-HPLC-MS/MS and insights into the umami taste mechanisms.

Wuding chicken is popular with consumers in China because of its umami taste. This study aimed to identify novel umami peptides from Wuding chicken and explore the taste mechanism of umami peptides. The molecular masses and amino acid compositions of peptides in Wuding chicken were identified by nano-scale liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (Nano-HPLC-MS/MS). The taste characteristics of the peptides synthesized by the solid-phase method were evaluated by sensory evaluation combined with electronic tongue technology. The secondary structure of the peptides was further analyzed by circular dichroism (CD), and the relationship between the structure and taste of the peptides was elucidated by molecular docking. The results showed that eight potential umami peptides were identified, among which FVT (FT-3), LDF (LF-3), and DLAGRDLTDYLMKIL (DL-15) had distinct umami tastes, and FT-3 had the highest umami intensity, followed by LF-3 and DL-15. The relative contents of ß-sheets in the three umami peptides were 55.20%, 57.30%, and 47.70%, respectively, which were the key components of Wuding chicken umami peptides. In addition to LF-3 embedded in the cavity-binding domain of the TIR1, both FT-3 and DL-15 were embedded in the venus flytrap domain (VFTD) of the T1R3 to bind the umami receptor T1R1/T1R3. The main binding forces between the umami peptides and the umami receptor T1R1/T1R3 relied on hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic interactions, and the key amino acid residues of the combination of umami peptides and the umami receptor T1R1/T1R3 were Glu292, Asn235, and Tyr262.

Lipase as a Chiral Selector Immobilised on Carboxylated Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes and Encapsulated in the Organic Polymer Monolithic Capillary for Nano-High Performance Liquid Chromatography Enantioseparation of Racemic Pharmaceuticals.

Herein, we report the preparation of lipase immobilised on single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) as an enantioselector for capillary monolithic columns and their application in the chiral separation of racemic pharmaceuticals. The columns were prepared through the encapsulation of functionalised SWCNTs (c-SWCNTs) within an organic monolithic polymer, followed by the immobilisation of lipase over the obtained monolith, over a three-day (L1) and five-day (L2) period. The prepared columns were tested for the enantioselective nano-HPLC separation of 50 racemic drugs. A suitable resolution was achieved for 25 drugs using nano-RP-HPLC conditions for both the L1 and L2 capillaries, while no specific resolution was detected under normal-phase HPLC conditions. The developed c-SWCNT-lipase-based polymeric monolithic capillaries are a promising expansion for separating pharmaceutical enantiomers' using nano-HPLC.

Quantitation of endogenous GnRH by validated nano-HPLC-HRMS method: a pilot study on ewe plasma.

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone isoform I (GnRH), a neuro-deca-peptide, plays a fundamental role in development and maintenance of the reproductive system in vertebrates. The anomalous release of GnRH is observed in reproductive disorder such as hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), or following prenatal exposure to elevated androgen levels. Quantitation of GnRH plasma levels could help to diagnose and better understand these pathologies. Here, a validated nano-high-performance liquid chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry (HPLC-HRMS) method to quantify GnRH in ewe plasma samples is presented. Protein precipitation and solid-phase extraction (SPE) pre-treatment steps were required to purify and enrich GnRH and internal standard (lamprey-luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone-III, l-LHRH-III). For the validation process, a surrogate matrix approach was chosen following the International Council for Harmonisation (ICH) and FDA guidelines. Before the validation study, the validation model using the surrogate matrix was compared with those using a real matrix such as human plasma. All the tested parameters were analogous confirming the use of the surrogate matrix as a standard calibration medium. From the validation study, limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantitation (LOQ) values of 0.008 and 0.024 ng/mL were obtained, respectively. Selectivity, accuracy, precision, recovery, and matrix effect were assessed with quality control samples in human plasma and all values were acceptable. Sixteen samples belonging to healthy and prenatal androgen (PNA) exposed ewes were collected and analyzed, and the GnRH levels ranged between 0.05 and 3.26 ng/mL. The nano-HPLC-HRMS developed here was successful in measuring GnRH, representing therefore a suitable technique to quantify GnRH in ewe plasma and to detect it in other matrices and species.

Daptomycin: A Novel Macrocyclic Antibiotic as a Chiral Selector in an Organic Polymer Monolithic Capillary for the Enantioselective Analysis of a Set of Pharmaceuticals.

Daptomycin, a macrocyclic antibiotic, is here used as a new chiral selector in preparation of chiral stationary phase (CSP) in a recently prepared polymer monolithic capillary. The latter is prepared using the copolymerization of the monomers glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) in the presence of daptomycin in water. Under reversed phase conditions (RP), the prepared capillaries were tested for the enantioselective nanoliquid chromatographic separation of fifty of the racemic drugs of different pharmacological groups, such as adrenergic blockers, H1-blockers, NSAIDs, antifungal drugs, and others. Baseline separation was attained for many drugs under RP-HPLC. Daptomycin expands the horizon of chiral selectors in HPLC.

Development of a new nano arginase HPLC capillary column for the fast screening of arginase inhibitors and evaluation of their binding affinity.

A simple and rapid Nano LC method has been developed for the screening of arginase inhibitors. The method is based on the immobilization of biotinylated arginase on a neutravidin functionalized nano HPLC capillary column. The arginase immobilization step performed by frontal analysis is very fast and only takes a few minutes. The miniaturized capillary column of 170 nL (length 5 cm, internal diameter 75 µm) significantly decreased the required amount of used enzyme (25 pmol). This was of significance importance when working with less available or expensive purified enzyme. Non-selective adsorption of the organic monolith matrix was reduced (<6%) and the arginase efficient yield was high (92%). The resultant affinity capillary columns showed excellent repeatability and long lifetime. The arginase reaction product was achieved within 60 s and the immobilized arginase retained 97% of the initial activity beyond 90 days. This novel approach can thus be used for the fast evaluation of recognition assay induced bya series of inhibitor molecules (caffeic acid phenylamide, chlorogenic acid, piceatannol, nor-NOHA acetate) and plant extracts.

Machine learning to predict retention time of small molecules in nano-HPLC.

Retention time is an important parameter for identification in untargeted LC-MS screening. Precise retention time prediction facilitates the annotation process and is well known for proteomics. However, the lack of available experimental information for a long time has limited the prediction accuracy for small molecules. Recently introduced large databases for small-molecule retention times make possible reliable machine learning-based predictions for the whole diversity of compounds. Applying simple projections may expand these predictions on various LC systems and conditions. In our work, we describe a complex approach to predict retention times for nano-HPLC that includes the consequent deployment of binary and regression gradient boosting models trained on the METLIN small-molecule dataset and simple projection of the results with a small number of easily available compounds onto nano-HPLC separations. The proposed model outperforms previous attempts to use machine learning for predictions with a 46-s mean absolute error. The overall performance after transfer to nano-LC conditions is less than 155 s (10.8%) in terms of the median absolute (relative) error. To illustrate the applicability of the described approach, we successfully managed to eliminate averagely 25 to 42% of false-positives with a filter threshold derived from ROC curves. Thus, the proposed approach should be used in addition to other well-established in silico methods and their integration may broaden the range of correctly identified molecules.

Effect of high hydrostatic pressure on solubility and conformation changes of soybean protein isolate glycated with flaxseed gum.

Soybean protein isolate (SPI) was incubated with flaxseed gum (FG) at 60 °C for 3 days under high hydrostatic pressure (HHP 0.1-300 MPa). Results showed improvement in solubility of SPI upon glycation with FG. The maximum solubility reached 86.84% when SPI-FG was treated at pH 8.0 and 200 MPa. The occurrence, degrees and sites of SPI-FG glycation suggested that moderate pressure (100 MPa) significantly promoted Maillard reactions, but higher pressures (greater than 200 MPa) suppressed these reactions. The secondary structure of the glycated proteins varied greatly with respect to α-helix and random coil contents and vibrations of the amide II band at 200 MPa. These microstructural changes increased the solubility over a broad pH range. The conformational changes in the glycated SPI supported the improved solubility of SPI-FG. Overall, HHP represents a potential method of controlling glycation to improve protein processability and expand their applicability in the food industry.

[Application of porous layer open tubular capillary columns with narrow inner diameter in nanoflow-high performance liquid chromatography for N-derivatized amino acid enantiomers].

Porous layer open tubular capillary columns with a narrow inner diameter (NPLOT) have potential in life science, especially in single-cell analysis. In this work, quinidine-based chiral NPLOT columns were prepared by in-situ thermal-initiated polymerization. The porous layer of the organic polymer was prepared with a 6 µm i. d capillary by in-situ thermal-initiated polymerization, following which the thickness and morphology of the NPLOT column were observed for different durations (3 h, 6 h, and 9 h) of polymerization. The thicknesses of the porous layer were 103±51 nm and 210±51 nm when polymerization was conducted for 3 h and 6 h, respectively. Subsequently, the columns prepared under 3 h of polymerization were applied in nanoflow-high performance liquid chromatography for the enantioseparation of N-derivatized amino acid enantiomers. Baseline separation was achieved in 2 min. The sample volume consumed was of the picoliter level, which would provide a means of research for single-cell analysis.

In-situ photopolymerized polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane-derived monolithic capillary columns with quinidine functionality for enantioseparation by nano-liquid chromatography.

The successful fabrication of monolithic capillary columns for enantiomer separations was achieved within vinylized fused silica capillaries via fast "one-pot" photo-initiated free radical polymerization reaction. A mixture consisting of polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane, O-[2-(methacryloyloxy)ethylcarbamoyl]-10,11-dihydroquinidine was copolymerized in the presence of n-butanol, ethylene glycol and photo-initiator 2,2-dimethoxy-2-phenylacetophenone. The morphology of the resultant polymeric hybrid inorganic-organic material and its permeability as well as porosity can be controlled by adjusting the composition of the monomers and binary porogenic solvent. The chromatographic characteristics of the columns have been investigated. Separation factors of N-acetyl-phenylalanine (Ac-Phe) and dichlorprop dropped with decrease of chiral functional monomer. Permeability was better when the macroporogen ethyleneglycol was present at higher concentrations during the polymerization. In general, the chiral compounds were well separated (dichlorprop: α = 1.53, Rs up to 4.14; Ac-Phe: α = 1.36, Rs up to 2.69) by nano-HPLC with an optimized enantioselective monolithic capillary column which can be prepared within a few minutes.

Modelling retention and peak shape of small polar solutes analysed by nano-HPLC using methacrylate-based monolithic columns.

The development of methacrylate-based monolithic columns was studied for the separation of pharmaceutical hydrophilic compounds in nano-liquid chromatography. The selected polymerisation mixture consisted of 7.5% hexyl methacrylate, 4.5% methacrylic acid and 18.0% ethylene dimethacrylate (w/w), in a binary porogenic solvent (35:35 w/w 1-propanol/1,4-butanediol). The polymer synthesised with this mixture has a good permeability, not excessive back-pressure, and reasonable retention times for polar and non-polar solutes. Monolithic columns (12 cm total capillary length, 100 µm i.d.), prepared with this mixture, were able to produce hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interactions, giving rise to promising separations. To evaluate the chromatographic system, alkylbenzenes (neutral and hydrophobic compounds) and sulphonamides (hydrophilic drugs) were assayed. To optimise the chromatographic mobile phase in isocratic elution and characterise the retention mechanism for a mixture of eight sulphonamides, the performance of several mathematic models was checked in the description of retention. The behaviour of the monolithic capillary column was compared, in terms of selectivity and peak shape, to that obtained with a C18 column (9 cm × 4.6 mm i.d., 5 µm particle size) using a conventional HPLC equipment. The results revealed substantial differences in the interactions established for sulphonamides between the monolithic and C18 columns.

In-situ functionalized monolithic polysiloxane-polymethacrylate composite materials from polythiol-ene double click reaction in capillary column format for enantioselective nano-high-performance liquid chromatography.

This work reports on the proof-of-principle of preparation of novel one step in-situ functionalized monolithic polysiloxane-polymethacrylate composite materials in capillary columns for enantioselective nano-HPLC using a thiol-ene click reaction. Quinine carbamate as functional monomer and ethylene dimethacrylate as crosslinker were both used as ene components in a thermally initiated double click-type polymerization reaction with poly(3-mercaptopropyl)methylsiloxane as thiol component in presence of 1-propanol as porogenic solvent. Elemental analysis and on-capillary fluorescence measurement proved the successful incorporation of the functional chiral monomer into the polymer. Scanning electron microscopy images revealed a macroporous polymer morphology which is typical for a nucleation and growth mechanism of pore formation. The individual microglobules appear relatively spherical and smooth indicating a non-porous nature. Nano-HPLC experiments of the chiral monolithic capillary column provided successful enantiomer separation of N-3,5-dinitrobenzoylleucine as test compound in polar organic elution mode clearly documenting the successful implementation of the proposed concept towards new functionalized monolithic composite materials.

Quantitative Analysis of the Sirt5-Regulated Lysine Succinylation Proteome in Mammalian Cells.

Lysine (Lys) succinylation is a recently discovered protein posttranslational modification pathway that is evolutionarily conserved from bacteria to mammals. It is regulated by Sirt5, a member of the class III histone deacetylases (HDACs) or the Sirtuins. Recent studies demonstrated that Lys succinylation and Sirt5 are involved in diverse cellular metabolic processes including urea cycle, ammonia transfer, and glucose metabolism. In this chapter, we describe the general protocol to identify Sirt5-regulated Lys succinylation substrates and a computational method to calculate the absolute modification stoichiometries of Lys succinylation sites. The strategy employs Stable Isotope Labeling of Amino acid in Cell culture (SILAC) and the immunoaffinity enrichment of Lys succinylated peptides to identify the Lys succinylation sites that are significantly upregulated in Sirt5 knockout mouse embryonic fibroblast cells.

Characterisation of Structural Proteins from Chronic Bee Paralysis Virus (CBPV) Using Mass Spectrometry.

Chronic bee paralysis virus (CBPV) is the etiological agent of chronic paralysis, an infectious and contagious disease in adult honeybees. CBPV is a positive single-stranded RNA virus which contains two major viral RNA fragments. RNA 1 (3674 nt) and RNA 2 (2305 nt) encode three and four putative open reading frames (ORFs), respectively. RNA 1 is thought to encode the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) since the amino acid sequence derived from ORF 3 shares similarities with the RdRP of families Nodaviridae and Tombusviridae. The genomic organization of CBPV and in silico analyses have suggested that RNA 1 encodes non-structural proteins, while RNA 2 encodes structural proteins, which are probably encoded by ORFs 2 and 3. In this study, purified CBPV particles were used to characterize virion proteins by mass spectrometry. Several polypeptides corresponding to proteins encoded by ORF 2 and 3 on RNA 2 were detected. Their role in the formation of the viral capsid is discussed.

Quantitative toxicoproteomic analysis of zebrafish embryos exposed to a retinoid X receptor antagonist UVI3003.

Retinoid X receptor (RXR) antagonists, including some environmental endocrine disruptors, have a teratogenic effect on vertebrate embryos. To investigate the toxicological mechanism on the protein expression level, a quantitative proteomic study was conducted to analyze the proteome alterations of zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos exposed to gradient concentrations of a representative RXR antagonist UVI3003. Using isobaric Tags for Relative and Absolute Quantitation (iTRAQ) labeling coupled nano high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (nano HPLC-MS/MS), in total 6592 proteins were identified, among which 195 proteins were found to be differentially expressed by more than a two-fold change in exposed groups compared with the control. Gene ontology analysis showed that these differential proteins were mostly involved in anatomical structure development, biosynthetic process, ion binding and oxidoreductase activity. Moreover, the biological pathways of translation, lipoprotein metabolism, cell survival and gluconeogenesis were intensively inhibited after exposure. Some significantly downregulated proteins such as apolipoprotein A-I and vitellogenin and upregulated proteins such as calcium activated nucleotidase 1b, glutathione S-transferase and glucose 6-dehydrogenases showed a strong dose-dependent response. The results provided new insight into the molecular details of RXR antagonist-induced teratogenicity and added novel information of pathways and potential biomarkers for evaluation of RXR interfering activity.

Proteomic investigation of response to FORL infection in tomato roots.

Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. radicis-lycopersici (FORL) leading to fusarium crown and root rot is considered one of the most destructive tomato soilborne diseases occurring in greenhouse and field crops. In this study, response to FORL infection in tomato roots was investigated by differential proteomics in susceptible (Monalbo) and resistant (Momor) isogenic tomato lines, thus leading to identify 33 proteins whose amount changed depending on the pathogen infection, and/or on the two genotypes. FORL infection induced accumulation of pathogen-related proteins (PR proteins) displaying glucanase and endochitinases activity or involved in redox processes in the Monalbo genotype. Interestingly, the level of the above mentioned PR proteins was not influenced by FORL infection in the resistant tomato line, while other proteins involved in general response mechanisms to biotic and/or abiotic stresses showed significant quantitative differences. In particular, the increased level of proteins participating to arginine metabolism and glutathione S-transferase (GST; EC 2.5.1.18) as well as that of protein LOC544002 and phosphoprotein ECPP44-like, suggested their key role in pathogen defence.

Biochemical modifications of gliadins induced by microbial transglutaminase on wheat flour.

BACKGROUND: Celiac disease (CD) is an immune-mediated disorder caused by the ingestion of wheat gluten. A lifelong, gluten-free diet is required to normalize the intestinal mucosa. We previously found that transamidation by microbial transglutaminase (mTGase) suppressed the gliadin-specific immune response in intestinal T-cell lines from CD patients and in models of gluten sensitivity. METHODS: SDS-PAGE, Western blot, ELISA, tissue transglutaminase (tTGase) assay and nano-HPLC-ESI-MS/MS experiments were used to analyze prolamins isolated from treated wheat flour. RESULTS: Gliadin and glutenin yields decreased to 7.6±0.5% and 7.5±0.3%, respectively, after a two-step transamidation reaction that produced a water-soluble protein fraction (spf). SDS-PAGE, Western blot and ELISA analyses confirmed the loss of immune cross-reactivity with anti-native gliadin antibodies in residual transamidated gliadins (K-gliadins) and spf as well as the occurrence of neo-epitopes. Nano-HPLC-ESI-MS/MS experiments identified some native and transamidated forms of celiacogenic peptides including p31-49 and confirmed that mTGase had similar stereo-specificity of tTGase. Those peptides resulted to be 100% and 57% modified in spf and K-gliadins, respectively. In particular, following transamidation p31-49 lost its ability to increase tTGase activity in Caco-2 cells. Finally, bread manufactured with transamidated flour had only minor changes in baking characteristics. CONCLUSIONS: The two-step transamidation reaction modified the analyzed gliadin peptides, which are known to trigger CD, without influencing main technological properties. GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE: Our data shed further light on a detoxification strategy alternative to the gluten free diet and may have important implications for the management of CD patients.