Autonomous CE Mass-Spectra Examination for the Ocean Worlds Life Surveyor.

Ocean worlds such as Europa and Enceladus are high priority targets in the search for past or extant life beyond Earth. Evidence of life may be preserved in samples of surface ice by processes such as deposition from active plumes, hydrofracturing, or thermal convection. Terrestrial life produces unique distributions of organic molecules that translate into recognizable biosignatures. Identification and quantification of these organic compounds can be achieved by separation science such as capillary electrophoresis coupled to mass spectrometry (CE-MS). However, the data generated by such an instrument can be multiple orders of magnitude larger than what can be transmitted back to Earth during an ocean world's mission. This requires onboard science data analysis capabilities that summarize and prioritize CE-MS observations with limited computational resources. In response, the autonomous capillary electrophoresis mass-spectra examination (ACME) onboard science autonomy system was created for application to the ocean world's life surveyor (OWLS) instrument suite. ACME is able to compress raw mass spectra by two to three orders of magnitude while preserving most of its scientifically relevant information content. This summarization is achieved by the extraction of raw data surrounding autonomously identified ion peaks and the detection and parameterization of unique background regions. Prioritization of the summarized observations is then enabled by providing estimates of scientific utility, including presence of key target compounds, and the uniqueness of an observation relative to previous observations.

Effect of fructooligosaccharide on endothelial function in CKD patients: a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Microbiota-derived uremic toxins have been associated with inflammation that could corroborate with endothelial dysfunction (ED) and increase cardiovascular risk in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). This trial aimed to evaluate the effect of the prebiotic fructooligosaccharide (FOS) on endothelial function and arterial stiffness in nondialysis CKD patients. METHODS: In a double-blind controlled trial, 46 nondiabetic CKD patients were randomized to receive 12 g/day of FOS or placebo (maltodextrin) for 3 months. Total p-cresyl sulfate (PCS) and indoxyl sulfate by high-performance liquid chromatography, urinary trimethylamine N-oxide by mass spectrometry, C-reactive protein, interleukin-6 (IL-6), serum nitric oxide and stroma-derived factor-1 alfa were measured at baseline and at the end of follow-up; endothelial function was assessed through flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) and arterial stiffness by pulse wave velocity (PWV). RESULTS: The mean (± standard deviation) age of the study participants was 57.6 ± 14.4 years, with an estimated glomerular filtration rate of 21.3 ± 7.3 mL/min/1.73 m2. During the follow-up, regarding the inflammatory markers and uremic toxins, there was a significant decrease in IL-6 levels (3.4 ± 2.1 pg/mL versus 2.6 ± 1.4 pg/mL; P = 0.04) and a trend toward PCS reduction (55.4 ± 38.1 mg/L versus 43.1 ± 32.4 mg/L, P = 0.07) only in the prebiotic group. Comparing both groups, there was no difference in FMD and PWV. In an exploratory analysis, including a less severe ED group of patients (FMD ≥2.2% at baseline), FMD remained stable in the prebiotic group, while it decreased in the placebo group (group effect P = 0.135; time effect P = 0.012; interaction P = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: The prebiotic FOS lowered circulating levels of IL-6 in CKD patients and preserved endothelial function only in those with less damaged endothelium. No effect of FOS in arterial stiffness was observed.

Photochemical and photocatalytic degradation of 1-propanol using UV/H2 O2 : Identification of malonate as byproduct.

1-propanol is a primary alcohol extensively used in the pharmaceutical, chemical, and food industries. It has been also found as a contaminant in the atmosphere and is considered a model compound to mimic the behavior and fate of aliphatic alcohols exposed to environmental conditions. In order to understand that role of relevant variables, this paper presents results obtained with a simple experimental set-up to investigate the reactivity of 1-propanol under mild oxidizing conditions. Coupling this system with CE-C4 D allowed the quantification of the carboxylic acids formed. For the described experiments, aqueous solutions of 1-propanol were placed inside a photoreactor and oxidized upon the addition of TiO2 and/or H2 O2 . According to the described results, the addition of H2 O2 (0.1% w/w) was the most significant variable, roughly tripled the amount of carboxylic acids generated and led to the conversion of up to 70% of the initially available 1-propanol (1 mmol/L). More importantly, the reaction yielded the formation (within 10 min) of propionate (50 µmol/L), acetate (400 µmol/L), formate (50 µmol/L), and malonate (200 µmol/L). The latter is critically important because it represents the first example of the photochemical oxidation of both terminal carbons of the C3 -chain of 1-propanol under mild conditions, and opens new avenues for the production of this important chemical building block.

Capillary electrophoresis with dual diode array detection and tandem mass spectrometry to access cardiovascular biomarkers candidates in human urine: Trimethylamine-N-Oxide and l-carnitine.

A capillary electrophoresis with diode array and tandem mass spectrometry detection (CE-UV-MS/MS) method has been developed for the targeted assessment of cardiovascular biomarkers candidates, trimethylamine-N-Oxide (TMAO) and l-carnitine, and creatinine in human urine samples. The dual detection was applied due to the high concentration of creatinine (monitored by UV detection at 200 nm) in relation to TMAO and l-carnitine (quantified by selected reaction monitoring (SRM) mass spectrometry), in human urine. All instrumental parameters, sheath liquid (SHL) and background electrolyte (BGE) compositions were optimized with a pool of urine provided by adult healthy volunteers and evaluated by signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and peak shape of TMAO. The compositions for the optimized BGE was formic acid at concentration of 0.10 mol L-1, and for SHL was 70:30 MeOH:H2O containing 0.05% (v/v) formic acid, delivered at a flow rate of 5 µL min-1. Limits of detection for TMAO, l-carnitine and creatinine were 0.76, 0.54 and 303 µmol L-1, respectively. Limits of quantification were 2.5, 1.8 and 1000 µmol L-1, respectively. Linearity was evaluated by ANOVA and presented R2 from 0.993 to 0.997. Precision and accuracy were evaluated at three concentration levels. Coefficients of variation (CV) from 1 to 21% were obtained for the intra-day precision evaluation and from 2 to 16% for the inter-day precision evaluation. The recovery ranged from 75 to 116%. Quantitation of TMAO and l-carnitine in infarcted patients urine in comparison to healthy individuals indicated a 2.2 fold increase of TMAO and a 7.0 fold increase of l-carnitine. These results showed the potential applicability of the proposed method for the evaluation of TMAO and l-carnitine in urine within a panel of candidate metabolites in targeted metabolomics studies of cardiovascular diseases among other conditions.

Application of capillary electrophoresis combined with conductometric and UV detection to monitor meteorite simulant bioleaching by Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans.

The importance of microorganisms and biotechnology in space exploration and future planets colonization has been discussed in the literature. Meteorites are interesting samples to study microbe-mineral interaction focused on space exploration. The chemolithotropic bacterium Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans has been used as model to understand the iron and sulfur oxidation. In this work, capillary electrophoresis with capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection and UV detection was used to monitor bacterial growth in a meteorite simulant by measuring the conversion of Fe2+ into Fe+3 . The effect of Co2+ and Ni2+ (metals also found in meteorites) on the bacterial growth was also evaluated. The presented method allowed the analyses of all metals in a single run (less than 8 min). The background electrolyte was composted of 10 mmol/L α-hydroxyisobutyric acid/Histidine. For comparison purpose, the samples were also analyzed by UV-Vis spectrophotometry. The Fe2+ conversion into Fe3+ by A. ferrooxidans was observed up to 36 h with the growth rate constant of 0.19/h and 0.21/h in Tuovinen and Kelly (T&K) and in meteorite simulant media, respectively. The developed method presents favorable prospect to monitor the growth of other chemolithotropic microorganisms for biotechnology applications.

Capillary electrophoresis tandem mass spectrometry determination of glutamic acid and homocysteine's metabolites: Potential biomarkers of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease that affects both lower and upper motor neurons, leading to muscle atrophy, paralysis, and death caused by respiratory failure or infectious complications. Altered levels of homocysteine, cysteine, methionine, and glutamic acid have been observed in plasma of ALS patients. In this context, a method for determination of these potential biomarkers in plasma by capillary electrophoresis tandem mass spectrometry (CE-MS/MS) is proposed herein. Sample preparation was carefully investigated, since sulfur-containing amino acids may interact with plasma proteins. Owing to the non-thiol sulfur atom in methionine, it was necessary to split sample preparation into two methods: i) determination of homocysteine and cysteine as S-acetyl amino acids; ii) determination of glutamic acid and methionine. All amino acids were separated within 25min by CE-MS/MS using 5molL-1 acetic acid as background electrolyte and 5mmolL-1 acetic acid in 50% methanol/H2O (v/v) as sheath liquid. The proposed CE-MS/MS method was validated, presenting RSD values below 6% and 11% for intra- and inter-day precision, respectively, for the middle concentration level within the linear range. The limits of detection ranged from 35 (homocysteine) to 268nmolL-1 (glutamic acid). The validated method was applied to the analysis of plasma samples from a group of healthy individuals and patients with ALS, showing the potential of glutamic acid and homocysteine metabolites as biomarkers of ALS.

Strategies Involving Mass Spectrometry Combined with Capillary Electrophoresis in Metabolomics.

This chapter focuses on the important contribution of CE-MS in metabolomics, describing the nature of CE-MS coupling and the technical improvements that have led to the interfaces used in modern instrumentation. Moreover, it will discourse how the variety of electrolyte compositions and additives, which has conferred CE the exceptional selectivity of its multiple separation modes, has been handled to allow interfacing with MS without compromising ionization efficiency and the spectrometer integrity. Finally, the methodologies of CE-MS in current use for metabolomics will be discussed in detail. To verify the scope of CE-MS in clinical metabolomics, a myriad of representative applications has been compiled.

CE-UV for the characterization of passion fruit juices provenance by amino acids profile with the aid of chemometric tools.

A separation method was developed in order to quantify free amino acids in passion fruit juices using CE-UV. A selective derivatization reaction with FMOC followed by MEKC analysis was chosen due to the highly interconnected mobilities of the analytes, enabling the separation of 22 amino acids by lipophilicity differences, as will be further discussed. To achieve such results, the method was optimized concerning BGE composition (concentrations, pH, and addition of organic modifier) and running conditions (temperature and applied voltage). The optimized running conditions were: a BGE composed by 60 mmol/L borate buffer at pH 10.1, 30 mmol/L SDS and 5 % methanol; running for 40 min at 23°C and 25 kV. The method was validated and applied on eight brands plus one fresh natural juice, detecting 12 amino acids. Quantification of six analytes combined with principal component analysis was capable to characterize different types of juices and showed potential to detect adulteration on industrial juices. Glutamic acid was found to be the most concentrated amino acid in all juices, exceeding 1 g/L in all samples and was also crucial for the correct classification of a natural juice, which presented a concentration of 22 g/L.

Metabolomic investigation of human diseases biomarkers by CE and LC coupled to MS.

Metabolomics is one of the most recent trends in the "omics" era that investigates the end products of an organism activity, that is, all metabolites in a biological system, which are small molecules (less than 1000 Da) from different chemical classes. Metabolomics represents a tool to assess the biochemical activity of a living system through the analysis of substrates and products processed during the metabolism. The analysis of the metabolic profile (nontargeted analysis, i.e. a comparison between samples profiles of individuals) and of specific metabolites (targeted analysis, which quantifies a selected group of metabolites) in biological samples provides an insight into the metabolic state and the biochemical processes of the organism and, therefore, may indicate the onset and the stage of different diseases. An early and accurate diagnosis is essential for successful treatment and probable cure of most illnesses; hence, the investigation of metabolites as disease biomarkers has increased considerably in recent years. This review aims to present the most relevant works that address the nontargeted and targeted analysis of metabolites in different diseases for the past 10 years, including kidney and neurological disorders, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and cancer, using CE and LC coupled with the accurate detection of mass spectroscopy.