Enzymatic digestion and mass spectrometry in the study of advanced glycation end products/peptides.

An extensive study was carried out on HSA and non-enzymatically glycated HSA by enzymatic digestion with trypsin and endoproteinase Lys-C, with the aim of identifying specific glycated peptides deriving from enzymatic digestion of glycated HSA. They may be considered, in pectore, as advanced glycation end products/peptides. These compounds, important at a systemic level in diabetic and nephropathic subjects, are produced by enzymatic digestion of in vivo glycated proteins: They are related to the pathological state of patients and have been invoked as responsible for tissue modifications. The digested mixtures obtained by the two enzymes were analyzed by MALDI/MS and LC/ESI/MSn, and clear cut differences were found. First of all, the digestion products of glycated HSA are generally less abundant than those observed in the case of unglycated HSA, accounting for the lower proclivity of the former to enzymatic digestion. MS/MS experiments on doubly charged ions, comparisons with a protein database, and molecular modeling to identify the lysine NH2 groups most exposed to glycation, identified some glycated peptides in digestion mixtures obtained from both types of enzymatic digestion. Residues 233K, 276K, 378K, 545K, and 525K seem to be privileged glycation sites, in agreement with the fractional solvent accessible surface values calculated by molecular modeling.

Effect of protein leaking BK-F PMMA-based hemodialysis on plasma pentosidine levels.

BACKGROUND: Advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) are now considered to contribute to the middle molecule toxicity of uremia and, because they are not cleared by conventional low-flux hemodialysis, alternative strategies are needed to improve their removal. METHODS: In a prospective cross-over trial involving 18 adult chronic hemodialysis subjects, we evaluated the intradialytic removal and the long-term effect on predialysis levels of Protein-bound (PBPe) and Free (FPe) pentosidine by high-pore, protein-leaking BK-F Polymethylmethacrylate-based hemodialysis (BK-F-HD), by comparing it to hemodialysis using low-flux dialyzers (LF-HD). RESULTS: A single BK-F-HD session removed more PBPe, but not FPe, than LF-HD. Long-term BK-F-HD was associated with a significant decrease in pre-dialysis PBPe, FPe, and albumin (17.7 +/- 20.8, 25.3 +/- 17.3 and 8.0 +/- 3.3%, p<0.01) and no change in body mass index and protein catabolic rate, compared to LF-HD. Multiple stepwise regression analysis identified C-reactive Protein (CRP) (standardized beta coefficient=-0.629), pre-dialysis levels in LF-HD (beta=0.452) and dialysis vintage (beta=0.428) as significant determinants of BK-F-induced changes in predialysis PBPe, and predialysis FPe and PBPe levels in LF-HD as significant determinants of BK-F-induced changes in predialysis FPe (beta=0.720 and 0.286, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows that long-term standard diffusive hemodialysis with BK-F membrane reduces predialysis PBPe and FPe levels by comparison with LF-HD, largely due to a greater intradialytic clearance of PBPe. Serum albumin is also reduced without any associated changes in nutritional status markers. The study also suggests that the effect of BK-F-HD in lowering PBPe levels is modulated by the body burden of pentosidine and is blunted or even lost in the presence of elevated CRP levels.

Advanced glycation end-products/peptides: a preliminary investigation by LC and LC/MS.

An investigation on AGE-peptides, originating by proteolysis of in vitro glycated proteins, was carried out by LC methods with different detection applied to the mixture produced by proteinase K digestion of in vitro glycated human serum albumin (HSA). Classical approaches, like spectroscopic (UV, fluorescence) and mass spectrometric methods (MALDI, LC/ESI/MS), show that the digestion mixture is highly complex. However, there are clearcut differences between the digestion mixtures of glycated and unglycated HSA, in the former case allowing identification of possible glycated peptides belonging to the AGE-peptide class. MS/ MS experiments on selected species seem to be promising as regards structural information.