Investigation of lipase-ligand interactions in porcine pancreatic extracts by microscale thermophoresis.

The evaluation of binding affinities between large biomolecules and small ligands is challenging and requires highly sensitive techniques. Microscale thermophoresis (MST) is an emerging biophysical technique used to overcome this limitation. This work describes the first MST binding method to evaluate binding affinities of small ligands to lipases from crude porcine pancreatic extracts. The conditions of the MST assay were thoroughly optimized to successfully evaluate the dissociation constant (Kd) between pancreatic lipases (PL) and triterpenoid compounds purified from oakwood. More precisely, the fluorescent labeling of PL (PL*) using RED-NHS dye was achieved via a buffer exchange procedure. The MST buffer was composed of 20 mM NaH2PO4 + 77 mM NaCl (pH 6.6) with 0.05% Triton-X added to efficiently prevent protein aggregation and adsorption, even when using only standard, uncoated MST capillaries. Storage at -20 °C ensured stability of PL* and its fluorescent signal. MST results showed that crude pancreatic extracts were suitable as a source of PL for the evaluation of binding affinities of small ligands. Quercotriterpenoside-I (QTT-I) demonstrated high PL* binding affinity (31 nM) followed by 3-O-galloylbarrinic acid (3-GBA) (500 nM) and bartogenic acid (BA) (1327 nM). To enrich the 50 kDa lipase responsible for the majority of hydrolysis activity in the crude pancreatic extracts, ammonium sulfate precipitation was attempted and its efficiency confirmed using capillary electrophoresis (CE)-based activity assays and HRMS. Moreover, to accurately explain enzyme modulation mechanism, it is imperative to complement binding assays with catalytic activity ones.

Understanding sweetness of dry wines: First evidence of astilbin isomers in red wines and quantitation in a one-century range of vintages.

Astilbin (2R, 3R) was recently reported to contribute to wine sweetness. As its aglycon contains two stereogenic centers, three other stereoisomers may be present: neoisoastilbin (2S, 3R), isoastilbin (2R, 3S), and neoastilbin (2S, 3S). This work aimed at assaying their presence for the first time in wines as well as their taste properties. The isomers were synthesized from astilbin and purified by semi-preparative HPLC. With the four stereoisomers, a sweet taste was perceived whose intensity varied with the configuration. Their content was assayed by developing a UHPLC-Q-Exactive method. The method was applied to screen astilbin and isomers in various wines, especially in different vintages from the same estate. While young wines contained higher concentrations of astilbin than the old ones, the concentrations of the other isomers, mainly neoastilbin, were higher in the old wines, suggesting their formation over time.

Screening for pancreatic lipase natural modulators by capillary electrophoresis hyphenated to spectrophotometric and conductometric dual detection.

The search for novel pancreatic lipase (PL) inhibitors has gained increasing attention in recent years. For the first time, a dual detection capillary electrophoresis (CE)-based homogeneous lipase assay was developed employing both the offline and online reaction modes. The hydrolysis of 4-nitrophenyl butyrate (4-NPB) catalyzed by PL into 4-nitrophenol and butyrate was monitored by spectrophotometric and conductimetric detection, respectively. The assays presented several advantages such as economy in consumption (few tens of nanoliters for online assays to few tens of microliters for offline assays), no modification of lipase, rapidity (<10 min) and versatility. Tris/MOPS (10 mM, pH 6.6) was used as the background electrolyte and the incubation buffer for enzymatic reactions. We confirmed that in the conditions of the study (small substrate 4-NPB, 37 °C, pH 6.6), the PL was active even in the absence of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) vesicles, generally used to mimic the lipid-water interface. This was confirmed by the maximum velocity (Vmax) and the Michaelis-Menten constant (Km) values that were the same order of magnitude in the absence and presence of DPPC. The developed method was used to screen crude aqueous plant extracts and purified compounds. We were able to identify the promising PL inhibition of hawthorn leaf herbal infusions at 1 mg mL-1 (37%) and PL activation by fresh and dry hawthorn flowers (∼24%). Additionally, two triterpenoids purified from extracts of oakwood were identified for the first time as potent PL inhibitors demonstrating 51 and 58% inhibition at 1 mg mL-1, respectively.

Polyethylene glycol crowding effect on hyaluronidase activity monitored by capillary electrophoresis.

To mimic the activity of hyaluronidase in natural environment, the hydrolysis of hyaluronic acid (HA) by hyaluronidase was investigated for the first time in the presence of crowding agents using capillary electrophoresis (CE) as a simple and reliable technique for conducting enzymatic assay. Polyethylene glycol (PEG) 6000 was selected as a model crowder and the hyaluronic acid degradation catalyzed by bovine testes hyaluronidase (BTH) was carried out at different PEG concentrations (0%, 10%, and 17%). After optimization of the CE analytical method and enzymatic assay, the degradation products were monitored at different HA concentrations. At 10% of PEG and 0.3 mg mL-1 of HA, the activity of the enzyme was significantly reduced showing inconvenient interactions of PEG with the hyaluronidase blocking the release of hydrolysis products. A similar reduction of hyaluronidase activity was observed at 1 mg mL-1 of HA due to the presumable formation of the BTH-substrate complex. The experimental curves obtained by CE also evidence that the overall kinetics are governed by the hydrolysis of hexasaccharide intermediates. Finally, the effect of PEG on hyaluronidase activity was evaluated in the presence of natural or synthetic inhibitors. Our results show a significant difference of the inhibitors' affinity toward hyaluronidase in the presence of PEG. Surprisingly, the presence of the crowding agent results in a loss of the inhibition effect of small polycyclic inhibitors, while larger charged inhibitors were less affected. In this work, CE analyses confirm the importance of mimicking the cellular environment for the discovery and development of reliable inhibitors. Graphical abstract.

Development and validation of an LC-FTMS method for quantifying natural sweeteners in wine.

The quality of a wine largely depends on the balance between its sourness, bitterness and sweetness. Recently, epi-dihydrophaseic acid-3'-O-ß-glucopyranoside (epi-DPA-G) and astilbin, two molecules obtained from grapes, have been shown to contribute notably to the sweet taste of dry wines. To study the parameters likely to affect their concentration, a new method was developed and optimized by LC-FTMS. Three gradients and five C18 columns were tested. Good results in terms of linearity (r2 > 0.9980), repeatability (RSD ≤ 3%), recovery (≥89%) and LOQ (≤20 µg.L-1) were obtained. The method was used to screen epi-DPA-G and astilbin in red wines of several vintages over one century. Both compounds were detected in all wines at concentrations varying from 1.2 to 14.7 mg/L for epi-DPA-G and from 0.5 to 42.6 mg/L for astilbin. Therefore, this new method can be used to quantify epi-DPA-G and astilbin reliably in wine.

Effect of modified di- and trisaccharides on hyaluronidase activity assessed by capillary electrophoresis-based enzymatic assay.

The activity of eukaryote hydrolase-type of hyaluronidases was studied using a miniaturized capillary electrophoresis (CE) assay developed in our laboratory. Few nanoliters of reagents are sufficient and no labeling is required for this assay. The effect of natural and original synthetic effectors of hyaluronidase was evaluated. These di- and trisaccharides from linkage region of proteoglycans were synthesized in 30-40 steps from monomeric units using classical protection, deprotection, glycosylation and deoxygenation reactions. The influence of the chain length (di/trisaccharide), the modification type (methoxy/deoxy) and its position (2/4/6) was studied. The inhibition and/or activation percentages were determined at two concentrations of effectors; 0.2 mM and 2 mM. The half maximal effective concentration (EC50) values were evaluated (n = 2) for the most effective inhibitors (∼1 mM) and activators (∼0.2 mM). Results showed that hyaluronidase was mostly inhibited in a concentration-dependent fashion by a deoxy modification and activated by a methoxy modification. Trisaccharides were found to be more effective on hyaluronidase activity than disaccharides. Position 4 was found to be more favorable for hyaluronidase activity than position 6 and the activity in position 2 was negligible. For a better understanding of the enzyme function mode, the inhibition constant (Ki) was also evaluated by CE (Ki ∼ 2 mM). These results are of great interest especially as few activators of hyaluronidase are presented in the literature.

Simultaneous elastase-, hyaluronidase- and collagenase-capillary electrophoresis based assay. Application to evaluate the bioactivity of the red alga Jania rubens.

There have been many efforts to search for affordable and efficient cosmetic ingredients from natural sources and to evaluate their bioactivities using eco-responsible tools. Hyaluronidase, elastase and collagenase are responsible for the degradation of the main components of the extracellular matrix, namely the hyaluronic acid, elastin and collagen, respectively. The aim of this work was to develop a single capillary electrophoresis method to monitor simultaneously the activities of these three enzymes, without reactant immobilization or radioactivity use. The developed approach was used to evaluate the bioactivity of the red alga Jania rubens after microwave- or electrochemical-assisted extraction. For this purpose, the incubation time, the reactant concentrations, the separation buffer and the detection system were carefully chosen. CE with double detection system, LIF and HRMS connected in series, was used to ensure the simultaneous analysis of the substrates and products of the three enzymatic reactions. The optimized enzymatic conditions allowed the use of the same protocol to assess the 3 enzyme activities. These conditions consisted of 10 min pre-incubation of the enzyme (with alga extract) at 37 °C; 10 min incubation with the substrate at 37 °C and 10 min stop-time at 90 °C. 1.4 nL of each reaction mixture were co-injected into a 85 cm total length capillary using short-end injection. Ammonium acetate (50 mM, pH 9.0) was used for electrophoretic separation. All substrates and products were simultaneously detected in less than 10 min with good peak symmetry and efficiency, sufficient intra-day and inter-day repeatabilities (RSD < 4.5%; n = 3) and excellent LOQ (<5 nM). The results obtained using this multiple CE-based enzymatic assay showed the significant effect of Jania rubens ethanolic extracts on elastase, hyaluronidase and the metalloproteinase MMP-1.

Use of chromatographic and electrophoretic tools for assaying elastase, collagenase, hyaluronidase, and tyrosinase activity.

Elastase, collagenase, hyaluronidase and tyrosinase, are very interesting enzymes due to their direct implication in skin aging and as therapeutic hits. Different techniques can be used to study these enzymes and to evaluate the influence of effectors on their kinetics. Nowadays, analytical techniques have become frequently used tools for miniaturizing enzyme assays. The main intention of this article is to review chromatographic and electrophoretic tools that study the four enzymes above mentioned. More specifically, the use of high-performance liquid chromatography and capillary electrophoresis and their derivative techniques for monitoring these enzymes will be investigated. The advantages and limitations of these assays will also be discussed. The original use of microscale thermophoresis and thin layer chromatography in this domain will also be covered.

Macroalga Padina pavonica water extracts obtained by pressurized liquid extraction and microwave-assisted extraction inhibit hyaluronidase activity as shown by capillary electrophoresis.

Hyaluronidase degrades hyaluronic acid, the principal component of the extracellular matrix. Inhibition of this enzyme is thus expected to hinder skin aging. Brown alga Padina pavonica activity toward hyaluronidase was evaluated using capillary electrophoresis (CE)-based enzymatic assays. This green technique allows evaluation of the biological activity of the natural material in an economic manner. Pressurized liquid extraction (PLE), microwave assisted extraction (MAE), supercritical fluid extraction and electroporation extraction techniques were used. Extraction conditions were optimized to obtain cosmetically acceptable Padina pavonica extracts with the best inhibition activity. CE-based assays were conducted using only a few nanoliters of reactants, a capillary of 60cm total length and of 50µm internal diameter, +20kV voltage for separation in 50mM ammonium acetate buffer (pH 9.0) and 200nm wavelength for detection. The reaction mixture was incubated for 1h and CE analysis time was about 11min. A novel online CE-assay using transverse diffusion of laminar flow profiles for in-capillary reactant mixing allowed efficient monitoring of hyaluronidase kinetics with Km and Vmax equal to 0.46±0.04mgmL-1 and 137.1±0.3nMs-1 (r2=0.99; n=3), respectively. These values compared well with literature, which validates the assay. Water extracts obtained by PLE (60°C; 2 cycles) and MAE (60°C; 1000W; 2min) presented the highest anti-hyaluronidase activity. The half maximal effective concentration (IC50) of water PLE extract was 0.04±0.01mgmL-1 (r2=0.99; n=3). This value is comparable to the one obtained for Einsenia bicyclis phlorotannin fractions (IC50=0.03mgmL-1), which makes Padina pavonica bioactivity very promising.

Hyaluronidase reaction kinetics evaluated by capillary electrophoresis with UV and high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) detection.

The biology of hyaluronidase activity on age related turnover of the hyaluronic acid (HA) in skin dermis and epidermis has not been established. Elucidation of this phenomenon enables discovery of novel compounds for skin health. As a simple and green technique, capillary electrophoresis (CE) was used for the first time for the determination of the kinetic constants (Km, Vmax and IC50) of the enzymatic degradation of HA. Reaction products were identified using CE/high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) after appropriate optimization. Best results in terms of signal sensitivity were obtained using 10 mM ammonium acetate (pH 9.0) BGE, a sheath liquid composed of methanol-water (80:20, v/v) with 0.02% (v/v) formic acid at 10 µL min-1 and an ESI voltage at -4 kV. Km and Vmax were determined (n = 3) using CE/UV at 200 nm as 0.24 ± 0.02 mg mL-1 and 150.4 ± 0.1 nM s-1, respectively. They were also successfully obtained by CE/HRMS (n = 3) with Km of 0.49 ± 0.02 mg mL-1 and Vmax of 155.7 ± 0.2 nM s-1. IC50 of a standard natural inhibitor, epigallocatechin gallate, was also determined by CE-UV/HRMS. Kinetic constant values obtained by CE compared well with literature which validated the developed CE-based assay. In addition, the activity of homemade tetrasaccharides of biotinylated chondroitin sulfate CS-A or CS-C (4- or 6- sulfated in a homogeneous or heterogeneous way) on the hydrolysis reaction of hyaluronidase was evaluated. Hyaluronidase was mostly dose-dependently inhibited by CS-A tetrasaccharides sulfated in a homogeneous way. Two trisaccharides from truncated linkage region of proteoglycans were also tested as inhibitors or activators. CE-based assay showed that even a small modification of one hydroxyl group changes the influence on hyaluronidase activity. CE-based assay can be used for the screening of natural and synthetic inhibitors of hyaluronidase activity for cosmetic and therapeutic applications.

Microalgae amino acid extraction and analysis at nanomolar level using electroporation and capillary electrophoresis with laser-induced fluorescence detection.

Amino acids play a key role in food analysis, clinical diagnostics, and biochemical research. Capillary electrophoresis with laser-induced fluorescence detection was used for the analysis of several amino acids. Amino acid labeling with fluorescein isothiocyanate was conducted using microwave-assisted derivatization at 80°C (680 W) during only 150 s. Good electrophoretic resolution was obtained using a background electrolyte composed of sodium tetraborate buffer (100 mM; pH 9.4) and ß-cyclodextrin (10 mM), and the limits of quantification were 3-30 nM. The developed capillary electrophoresis with laser-induced fluorescence method was used to analyze amino acids in Dunaliella salina green algae grown under different conditions. A simple extraction technique based on electroporation of the cell membrane was introduced. A home-made apparatus allowed the application of direct and alternating voltages across the electrochemical compartment containing a suspension of microalgae in distilled water at 2.5 g/L. A direct voltage of 12 V applied for 4 min gave the optimum extraction yield. Results were comparable to those obtained with accelerated-solvent extraction. The efficiency of electroporation in destroying microalgae membranes was shown by examining the algae surface morphology using scanning electron microscopy. Stress conditions were found to induce the production of amino acids in Dunaliella salina cells.

Assaying human neutrophil elastase activity by capillary zone electrophoresis combined with laser-induced fluorescence.

Skin aging is a progressive process determining the ultimate skin appearance. Human neutrophil elastase (HNE) has been shown to play an important role in the degradation of the extracellular matrix. In order to assay HNE kinetics, a novel online capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) assay has been developed in this study for the determination of the maximum velocity (Vmax) and of the Michaelis-Menten constant (Km) of HNE regarding several potential substrates. These assays are based on short-end injection to shorten analysis time, on transverse diffusion of laminar flow profiles (TDLFP) for in-capillary reactant mixing, and on UV or laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) detection. Kinetic constants for a referenced peptidic substrate were determined using not only online assays but also offline (pre-capillary) mode. The results obtained were cross compared and compared to the literature in order to validate the developed assays. The hydrolysis of three new potential fluorogenic substrates by HNE was also monitored. Two new peptidic substrates for HNE were identified through this study. Km values of these novel substrates were successfully determined using online CZE assay (Km ∼0.07mM). This value was in the same order of magnitude of that of the referenced substrate despite the presence of the labeling group 5-carboxyfluorescein (5-FAM). HNE activity has never been assessed using online CZE-based assay, neither with UV nor with LIF detection. The developed assay conducted with the new labeled substrates is particularly sensitive (LOQ of few nM), does not require the presence of micelles in the BGE (which is the case for the reference substrate) and only necessitates few nanoliters of reactants making it particularly adapted for screening studies.