Oxidized phospholipids are more potent antagonists of lipopolysaccharide than inducers of inflammation.

Polyunsaturated fatty acids are precursors of multiple pro- and anti-inflammatory molecules generated by enzymatic stereospecific and positionally specific insertion of oxygen, which is a prerequisite for recognition of these mediators by cellular receptors. However, nonenzymatically oxidized free and esterified polyunsaturated fatty acids also demonstrate activities relevant to inflammation. In particular, phospholipids containing oxidized fatty acid residues (oxidized phospholipids; OxPLs) were shown to induce proinflammatory changes in endothelial cells but paradoxically also to inhibit inflammation induced via TLR4. In this study, we show that half-maximal inhibition of LPS-induced elevation of E-selectin mRNA in endothelial cells developed at concentrations of oxidized 1-palmitoyl-2-arachidonoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (OxPAPC) 10-fold lower than those required to induce proinflammatory response. Similar concentration difference was observed for other classes and molecular species of OxPLs. Upon injection into mice, OxPAPC did not elevate plasma levels of IL-6 and keratinocyte chemoattractant but strongly inhibited LPS-induced upregulation of these inflammatory cytokines. Thus, both in vitro and in vivo, anti-LPS effects of OxPLs are observed at lower concentrations than those required for their proinflammatory action. Quantification of the most abundant oxidized phosphatidylcholines by HPLC/tandem mass spectrometry showed that circulating concentrations of total oxidized phosphatidylcholine species are close to the range where they demonstrate anti-LPS activity but significantly lower than that required for induction of inflammation. We hypothesize that low levels of OxPLs in circulation serve mostly anti-LPS function and protect from excessive systemic response to TLR4 ligands, whereas proinflammatory effects of OxPLs are more likely to develop locally at sites of tissue deposition of OxPLs (e.g., in atherosclerotic vessels).

Selective enrichment of phosphatidylcholines from food and biological matrices using metal oxides as solid-phase extraction materials prior to analysis by HPLC-ESI-MS/MS.

A zirconia (ZrO(2))-modified solid-phase extraction sorbent has been evaluated for selective extraction of phosphatidylcholines from biological samples, followed by analysis of the isolated solutes by reversed-phase liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry. The clean-up process was optimized using seven standard phosphatidylcholines including two lyso derivatives. Different acidic conditions were tested for the bonding and washing steps; for elution, various aqueous or methanolic bases were studied. Experiments were conducted hydrodynamically using extraction cartridges, and statically in batch mode; the performance of the sorbent was significantly better when used in the flow-through mode. The developed clean-up procedure was used to selectively enrich phosphatidylcholines from whole milk, human plasma, and mouse plasma, to show the wide applicability of the method. For the preceding extraction of total lipids from the matrix, different solvent mixtures (methanol-chloroform, methanol-methyl tert-butyl ether, and ethanol-ethyl acetate) were compared. Accuracy and reproducibility of the proposed sample-preparation procedure were evaluated. Matrix effects possibly affecting mass spectrometric analysis were studied before and after the solid-phase extraction. They were found to be significant for several analytes, stressing the importance of a sample clean-up procedure. Under identical experimental conditions, recovery of bound phosphatidylcholines by zirconia was superior to that by other metal oxides, for example titania (TiO(2)) and stannia (SnO(2)).

Selectivity issues in targeted metabolomics: Separation of phosphorylated carbohydrate isomers by mixed-mode hydrophilic interaction/weak anion exchange chromatography.

Phosphorylated carbohydrates are important intracellular metabolites and thus of prime interest in metabolomics research. Complications in their analysis arise from the existence of structural isomers that do have similar fragmentation patterns in MS/MS and are hard to resolve chromatographically. Herein, we present selective methods for the liquid chromatographic separation of sugar phosphates, such as hexose and pentose phosphates, 2- and 3-phosphoglycerate, dihydroxyacetone phosphate and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate, as well as glucosamine 1- and 6-phosphate utilizing mixed-mode chromatography with reversed-phase/weak anion-exchangers and a charged aerosol detector. The best results were obtained when the reversed-phase/weak anion-exchanger column was operated under hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography elution conditions. The effects of various chromatographic parameters were examined and are discussed on the basis of a simple stoichiometric displacement model for explaining ion-exchange processes. Employed acidic conditions have led to the complete separation of α- and ß-anomers of glucose 6-phosphate at low temperature. The anomers coeluted in a single peak at elevated temperatures (>40°C) (peak coalescence), while at intermediate temperatures on-column interconversion with a plateau in-between resolved anomer peaks was observed with apparent reaction rate constants between 0.1 and 27.8×10(-4) s(-1). Dynamic HPLC under specified conditions enabled to investigate mutarotation of phosphorylated carbohydrates, their interconversion kinetics, and energy barriers for interconversion. A complex mixture of six hexose phosphate structural isomers could be resolved almost completely.

Advances in enantioselective separations using electromigration capillary techniques.

The most recent literature dealing with enantioselective separations and stereoselective analyses of chiral entities including especially pharmaceuticals, phytochemicals, biochemicals, agrochemicals, fine chemicals and specific test compounds by electromigration techniques such as CE, MEKC, MEEKC, CEC and microchip CE is reviewed. The review covers literature from 2007 until mid-2008, i.e. studies that were published after the appearance of the latest review article on that topic in Electrophoresis by Gübitz and Schmid (see Electrophoresis 2007, 28, 114). Particular attention is given to the description of new chiral selector systems, studies on separation mechanisms and applications in the above-specified electromigration techniques.

Synthesis and application of novel phenylboronate affinity materials based on organic polymer particles for selective trapping of glycoproteins.

We report on synthesis concepts for the fabrication of various novel phenylboronate affinity materials based on polymethacrylate epoxy beads (Fractogel EMD Epoxy (M) 40-90 microm) and the testing of these functionalized polymer particles for selective trapping of a glycoprotein from a standard mixture containing a glycosylated and a nonglycosylated protein. Two inherently different approaches for the functionalization of the bare beads with boronate groups have been elucidated. In the first, the epoxy residues of the polymer particles were converted into reactive thiol groups which were subsequently used as anchor moieties for the immobilization of 4-vinylphenylboronic acid by radical addition or radical polymerization reaction. Three different ways for the generation of sulfhydryl groups have been examined leading to materials with distinct linker chemistries. In the second and more straightforward approach, the epoxy groups were reacted with 4-mercaptophenylboronic acid. The novel materials were thoroughly characterized by (i) quantitation of the sulfur content by elemental analysis, (ii) reactive sulfhydryls were determined in a photospectrometric assay, (iii) boron content was measured by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry, and (iv) the amount of reactive boronate groups was evaluated in a fast binding assay employing adenosine as test compound. A maximum concentration of 1.2 mmol boronate groups per gram dry beads could be achieved by the presented synthesis routes. Employing the novel phenylboronate affinity materials in capture and release experiments in the batch mode, a standard glycoprotein, viz. transferrin (Tf) from human serum was separated from a nonglycosylated protein, BSA. A commercial boronate affinity material based on 3-aminophenylboronic acid modified agarose gel was employed as reference material and was found to perform significantly worse compared to the herein presented novel polymethacrylate particles.

Deconvolution of electrokinetic and chromatographic contributions to solute migration in stereoselective ion-exchange capillary electrochromatography on monolithic silica capillary columns.

A monolithic silica stationary phase functionalized with an enantioselective strong cation exchanger based on an aminosulfonic acid derivative was used for chiral separations of basic test solutes by nonaqueous CEC and capillary LC. The effects of the applied electric field as well as the ionic strength in the eluent on electrokinetic and chromatographic contributions to the overall separation performance in the electrically driven mode were investigated. Hence, under the utilized experimental conditions, i. e., at an electric field strength in the range of approximately 120-720 V/cm (applied voltages 4-24 kV) and an ionic strength of the counterion between 5 and 25 mM (at constant acid-to-base, i. e., co- to counterion ratio of 2:1), no deviations from the expected linearity of the EOF were observed. This led to the conclusion that an occurrence of the so-called electrokinetic effects of the second kind resulting from electric double layer overlap inside the mesopores of the monolithic stationary phase and concentration polarization phenomena were largely negligible. Additional support to this conclusion was inferred from the observed independence of CEC retention factors on the electric field strength across the investigated ionic strength range of the BGE. As a consequence, a simple framework allowing for calculation of the CEC mobilities from the individual separation contributions, viz. electroosmotic and electrophoretic mobilities as well as retention factors, could be applied to model CEC migration. There was a reasonable agreement between calculated and experimental CEC mobility data with deviations typically below 5%. The deconvolution of the individual contributions to CEC migration and separation is of particular value for the understanding of the separation processes in which electrophoretic migration of ionic sample constituents plays a significant role like in ion-exchange CEC and may aid the optimization procedure of the BGE and other experimental conditions such as the optimization of the surface chemistry of the stationary phase. In combination with the remarkable column performance evident from the low theoretical plate heights observed under CEC conditions for all test solutes (3.5-7.5 microm in the flow rate range of 0.4-1.2 mm/s, corresponding to (130,000-300,000 plates per meter), the presented framework provides an attractive tool as the basis for the assessment of chromatographic selectivities in a miniaturized CEC screening of new selectors and chiral stationary phases (CSPs), respectively, from experimental CEC data and known CE mobilities.

Monolithic silica-based capillary column with strong chiral cation-exchange type surface modification for enantioselective non-aqueous capillary electrochromatography.

A silica-based monolithic stationary phase prepared by the sol-gel process in a 100 microm I.D. fused-silica (FS) capillary has been modified chemically with 3-mercaptopropyl trimethoxysilane followed by immobilization of a strong cation-exchange (SCX) type chiral selector, (S)-N-(4-allyloxy-3,5-dichlorobenzoyl)-2-amino-3,3-dimethylbutane phosphonic acid, by radical addition reaction onto the reactive sulfhydryl surface. After a fine-tuning of the mobile phase composition, the enantioselective capillary column was evaluated for the separation of various chiral basic drugs by enantioselective non-aqueous capillary electrochromatography (CEC), in comparison to capillary column analogs packed with 3.5 microm silica particles having attached the same selector. The performance of the monolithic silica column was further compared to corresponding polymethacrylate-based organic polymer monoliths. The study indicated that strong counter-ions such as 2-aminobutanol or N,N,N',N'-tetramethylethylenediamine are needed, although they reduce the electroosmotic flow velocity and separation factors in comparison to less efficient counter-ions, in order to allow the elution of the oppositely charged solutes in the ion-exchange retention mode within reasonable run time and as sharp zones. In contrast, weak counter-ions such as N,N-diisopropylethylamine (Huenig base) provided stronger electroosmotic flow and much better separation factors, but relatively poor peak efficiencies. Overall, with the chemically functionalized monolithic silica column the high quality separations of packed column analogs could be approximated, with regards to both separation factors and peak performances. On the other hand, the monolithic capillary column certainly outperformed the packed column in terms of system robustness under capillary electrochromatography conditions and showed excellent column longevity. The enantioselective strong cation-exchange-type monolithic silica column performed also well in comparison to the organic polymer monolith.

Development of reactive thiol-modified monolithic capillaries and in-column surface functionalization by radical addition of a chromatographic ligand for capillary electrochromatography.

Reactive thiol-modified capillary columns for capillary electrochromatography (CEC) were developed by transforming the pendent 2,3-epoxypropyl groups of poly(glycidyl methacrylate-co-ethylene dimethacrylate) (poly(GMA-co-EDMA)) monoliths into 3-mercapto-2-hydroxy-propyl residues by a nucleophilic substitution reaction, employing sodium-hydrogen sulfide as nucleophilic reagent. Conditions for this modification reaction were systematically optimized with respect to different parameters, such as reaction temperature, pH-value, reaction time, type and concentration of organic modifier, and concentration of the sodium-hydrogen sulfide solution. The amount of thiol groups that was generated on the monolith surface was determined directly in the capillaries by a disulfide-exchange reaction employing 2,2'-dipyridyl disulfide (DPDS). This reaction in the capillary liberates pyridine-2-thione in equimolar amount to the surface sulfhydryls, which was collected into a vial and determined photometrically at 343 nm by RP-HPLC. About 17% of the total lateral epoxide moieties of the monolithic substrate could be transformed to reactive sulfhydryl groups, which corresponds to about 0.7 mmol g(-1) monolithic polymer, with a column-to-column repeatability of 3.2% R.S.D. The reactive thiol groups can be utilized to attach any chromatographic ligand with appropriate anchor in a second step, e.g. by radical addition, graft polymerization, nucleophilic substitution, disulfide formation or Michael addition reaction. To demonstrate the feasibility of the concept, we chose an anion exchange type chromatographic ligand based on a quinine derivative, O-9-tert-butylcarbamoylquinine (t-BuCQN) which was attached to the monolith in a radical addition reaction, for a further in-column surface functionalisation. About 78% of the sulfhydryl groups were derivatized with t-BuCQN as determined from differential DPDS assays before and after the selector immobilization reaction. The applicability of these surface-functionalised monolithic capillary columns could be shown by an electrochromatographic separation of the enantiomers of N-3,5-dinitrobenzoyl-leucine, which performed fairly well compared to an analogous capillary that was fabricated by an in situ copolymerization approach.

Metabolic profiling of intracellular metabolites in fermentation broths from beta-lactam antibiotics production by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry methods.

An analytical platform comprising three LC-ESI-MS/MS methods is presented for qualitative and quantitative profiling of more than 200 intracellular metabolites. Employing a silica based zwitterionic stationary phase in the HILIC mode, in total 223 hydrophilic metabolites can be determined. In particular, amino acids, organic acids as well as nucleotide sugars were found to be well separable and detectable under acidic mobile phase conditions, while in comparison especially phosphates such as nucleotides, coenzymes or sugar phosphates as well as sugars and sugar acids performed better at higher pH. Additionally, 21 less polar analytes turned out to be amenable for separation and analysis on a pentafluorophenyl modified silica stationary phase in RP mode. Solutes were detected by tandem mass spectrometry on a triple quadrupole instrument in the selected reaction monitoring (SRM) mode and specific SRM transitions for 258 metabolites are provided. All three methods were validated with respect to the limit of quantification, linear dynamic range, precision and accuracy. Applicability of the analytical platform was evaluated by analysis of the targeted metabolites in extracts of beta-lactam antibiotics fermentation broths. Thereby, 87 metabolites were determined qualitatively in penicillin fermentation broths, and 94 compounds were found in cephalosporin extracts. In addition, a number of selected metabolites that can be determined by at least two of the presented LC-MS/MS methods was analyzed quantitatively by both, external calibration using pure standards as well as by matrix-matched calibration performing standard addition. Quantitative results obtained with the different methods agreed well, however, for some analytes external calibration was found to be ill-suited due to matrix effects.

Enantioselective silica-based monoliths modified with a novel aminosulfonic acid-derived strong cation exchanger for electrically driven and pressure-driven capillary chromatography.

Silica monoliths modified with trans-(1S,2S)-2-(N-4-allyloxy-3,5-dichlorobenzoyl)amino cyclohexanesulfonic acid were tested for enantioselective separations of various chiral bases by aqueous and nonaqueous CEC as well as nano-HPLC. The optimization of the immobilization procedure showed that an intermediate selector (SO) coverage, as does result from a single static immobilization cycle in the capillary at 60 degrees C with an 8% (m/v) SO solution in methanol, affords maximal EOF and optimal enantioselectivity values, while a second immobilization cycle does not lead to any improvements. Furthermore, the mobile phase composition was examined regarding the effectiveness of aqueous phases (ACN/water and methanol/water) compared to nonaqueous eluents (ACN/methanol) in terms of separation selectivity and efficiency. Additionally, different acids of varying strengths were tested as co-ions in the ion-exchange process, including formic acid, acetic acid, methanesulfonic acid, and TFA (pK(a) from 4.75 to 0.5). It turned out that the effects regarding EOF and enantioselectivity were largely negligible. The chromatographic efficiencies of the new capillary columns were compelling and remarkable for bases. H-u curves established for mefloquine revealed a C-term contribution (resistance to mass transfer) by a factor of about six lower in CEC than in nano-HPLC and an A-term (flow maldistribution) about three times lower in the CEC mode. Theoretical plate heights as low as around 3-5 mum could be obtained in CEC over a wide flow range (0.5-1.5 mm/s). Run-to-run repeatabilities like in HPLC and excellent system stability promise the practical usefulness of the novel monolithic capillary column for enantiomeric composition analysis of pharmaceuticals by CEC.

Recent accomplishments in the field of enantiomer separation by CEC.

The present review intends to summarize recent developments in the field of enantioselective separations and analysis by CEC. It covers studies published in English language in common peer-reviewed journals within the period between 2003 and 2006. Both, methods making use of chiral mobile phase additives as well as chiral stationary phases for electrochromatographic enantiomer separations, are reviewed. Achievements that have been made on the various column technologies, such as open-tubular, particle-packed, inorganic, organic and particle-fixed (hybrid-type) monolithic as well as molecularly imprinted polymer phases, are discussed.

Stereoselective separations of chiral phosphinic acid pseudodipeptides by CEC using silica monoliths modified with an anion-exchange-type chiral selector.

A nonaqueous CEC method for the simultaneous separation of the four stereoisomers of the N-benzyloxycarbonyl phosphinic pseudodipeptide methyl ester benzyloxycarbonyl-homophenylalanine Z-hPhepsi(PO2HCH2)Phe-OCH3 as well as of the corresponding N-2,4-dinitrophenyl (DNP)-derivative with free C-terminal carboxylic group DNP-hPhepsi(PO2HCH2)Phe-OH was developed. For this purpose, a monolithic silica capillary column modified with a cinchona alkaloid-derived anion-exchange-type chiral selector, namely O-9-(tert-butylcarbamoyl)quinidine (tBuCQD) was prepared. The mobile phase composition (ACN/methanol ratio, counterion type) was thoroughly optimized to end up with baseline resolution of all four stereoisomers with critical resolution of as high as about 2. The CEC method proved to be superior over the corresponding HPLC separations primarily due to significantly enhanced plate numbers (between 200,000 and 600,000 m(-1) in CEC). Diastereoselectivity contributions arising from electrophoretic mobility differences of the diastereomers facilitated the separation of the later eluted diastereomeric peak pair (peaks III and IV), but had a negative influence on the selectivity of the earlier eluted diastereomeric peak pair (peaks I and II). The stereoselective CEC assay allowed the assessment of the stereoisomeric purity of the individual isomers which were obtained by preparative HPLC on a CHIRALPAK QD-AX column that is based on the same tBuCQD selector. The present study demonstrates that there exist problems which are hard to solve by HPLC, yet can be conveniently solved by CEC. Moreover, it was intended to prove by this practical application that CEC with monolithic columns is robust enough to be used for solving real-life problems.

Polymethacrylate-type monoliths functionalized with chiral amino phosphonic acid-derived strong cation exchange moieties for enantioselective nonaqueous capillary electrochromatography and investigation of the chemical composition of the monolithic polymer.

In situ prepared monolithic poly(glycidyl methacrylate-co-ethylene dimethacrylate) (poly(GMA-co-EDMA)) capillary columns were activated to reactive thiol-monoliths and subsequently functionalized with (S)-N-(4-allyloxy-3,5-dichlorobenzoyl)-2-amino-3,3-dimethylbutanephosphonic acid as chiral selector by radical addition to afford enantioselective strong cation exchanger (SCX) capillary columns (100 microm inner diameter (ID)). These monolithic capillaries were devised for the enantioseparation of chiral bases by nonaqueous and aqueous capillary electrochromatography (CEC) and the results obtained for mefloquine and its tert-butylcarbamate as test compounds were compared to those obtained with particulate silica-based analogs (packed columns). Despite abolishment of nonspecific ionic interactions between the cationic solutes and residual silanols that may diminish separation factors of the silica-based chiral SCX particles, the poly(GMA-co-EDMA)-supported SCX monolith did not, as expected, show better enantioselectivities, which was assumed to be due to detrimental nonspecific interactions between the analytes and the lipophilic polymer backbone. In order to minimize these unfavorable contributions, less lipophilic monoliths were developed by copolymerization of different amounts of the hydrophilic monomer 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) with GMA and EDMA, leading to GMA-co-HEMA-co-EDMA-terpolymeric monoliths. By this increase of the hydrophilicity of the monolithic support the enantioselectivity of the resultant SCX stationary phase could be enhanced and reached values comparable to the packed silica-based enantioselective SCX capillaries. Additionally, the mobile phase composition and other variables were examined and it could be shown that the separation factors are considerably affected by diverse parameters such as acetonitrile-methanol ratio and type and concentration of the counterion. Mefloquine enantiomers could be separated with alpha-values up to 1.56 and a maximum plate count of ca. 60,000 m(-1) could be achieved.