Accurate Measurement of Arsenic in Laver by Gravimetric Standard Addition Method Combined with High Resolution Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry

Lee, Kyoung-Seok,Kim, Hyeon-Ji,Yim, Yong-Hyeon,Kim, Jeongkwon,Hwang, Euijin Korean Society for Mass Spectrometry 2014 Mass spectrometry letters Vol.5 No.2

A gravimetric standard addition method combined with internal standard calibration has been successfully developed for the accurate analysis of total arsenic in a laver candidate reference material. A model equation for the gravimetric standard addition approach using an internal standard was derived to determine arsenic content in samples. Handlings of samples, As standard and internal standard were carried out gravimetrically to avoid larger uncertainty and variability involved in the volumetric preparation. Germanium was selected as the internal standard because of its close mass to the arsenic to minimize mass-dependent bias in mass spectrometer. The ion signal ratios of $^{75}As^+$ to $^{72}Ge^+$ (or $^{73}Ge^+$) were measured in high resolution mode ($R{\geq}10,000$) to separate potential isobaric interferences by high resolution ICP/MS. For method validation, the developed method was applied to the analysis of arsenic content in the NMIJ 7402-a codfish certified reference material (CRM) and the result was $37.07mg{\cdot}kg^{-1}{\pm}0.45mg{\cdot}kg^{-1}$ which is in good agreement with the certified value, $36.7mg{\cdot}kg^{-1}{\pm}1.8mg{\cdot}kg^{-1}$. Finally, the certified value of the total arsenic in the candidate laver CRM was determined to be $47.15mg{\cdot}kg^{-1}{\pm}1.32mg{\cdot}kg^{-1}$ (k = 2.8 for 95% confidence level) which is an excellent result for arsenic measurement with only 2.8 % of relative expanded uncertainty.

Microwave-assisted Weak Acid Hydrolysis of Proteins

Seo, Mi-Yeong,Kim, Jin-Hee,Park, Se-Hwan,Lee, Ji-Hye,Kim, Tae-Hee,Lee, Ji-Hyeon,Kim, Jeong-Kwon Korean Society for Mass Spectrometry 2012 Mass spectrometry letters Vol.3 No.2

Myoglobin was hydrolyzed by microwave-assisted weak acid hydrolysis with 2% formic acid at $37^{\circ}C$, $50^{\circ}C$, and $100^{\circ}C$ for 1 h. The most effective hydrolysis was observed at $100^{\circ}C$. Hydrolysis products were investigated using matrixassisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Most cleavages predominantly occurred at the C-termini of aspartyl residues. For comparison, weak acid hydrolysis was also performed in boiling water for 20, 40, 60, and 120 min. A 60- min weak acid hydrolysis in boiling water yielded similar results as a 60-min microwave-assisted weak acid hydrolysis at $100^{\circ}C$. These results strongly suggest that microwave irradiation has no notable enhancement effect on acid hydrolysis of proteins and that temperature is the major factor that determines the effectiveness of weak acid hydrolysis.

Isotope Measurement of Uranium at Ultratrace Levels Using Multicollector Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry

Oh, Seong-Y.,Lee, Seon-A.,Park, Jong-Ho,Lee, Myung-Ho,Song, Kyu-Seok Korean Society for Mass Spectrometry 2012 Mass spectrometry letters Vol.3 No.2

Mass spectrometric analysis was carried out using multicollector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS) for the precise and accurate determination of the isotope ratios of ultratrace levels of uranium dissolved in 3% $HNO_3$. We used the certified reference material (CRM) 112-A at a trace level of 100 pg/mL for the uranium isotopic measurement. Multiple collectors were utilized for the simultaneous measurement of uranium isotopes to reduce the signal uncertainty due to variations in the ion beam intensity over time. Mass bias correction was applied to the measured U isotopes to improve the precision and accuracy. Furthermore, elemental standard solution with certified values of platinum, iridium, gold, and thallium dissolved in 3% $HNO_3$ were analyzed to investigate the formation rates of the polyatomic ions of $Ir^{40}$ $Ar^+$, $Pt^{40}$ $Ar^+$, $Tl^{40}$ $Ar^+$, $Au^{40}$ $Ar^+$ for the concentration range of 50-400 pg/mL. Those polyatomic ions have mass-to-charge ratios in the 230-245 m/z region that it would contribute to the increase of background intensity of uranium, thorium, plutonium, and americium isotopes. The effect of the polyatomic ion interference on uranium isotope measurement has been estimated.

Diagnostic Evaluation of Enzyme Activity Related to Steroid Metabolism by Mass Spectrometry-Based Steroid Profiling

Choi, Man Ho,Chung, Bong Chul Korean Society for Mass Spectrometry 2014 Mass spectrometry letters Vol.5 No.2

Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) methods have been used extensively in clinical steroid analyses. Evaluating the metabolic ratios of precursors to products by accurate quantification of individual steroid levels in biological samples can reveal the activities of enzymes associated with steroid metabolism. This review article discusses the impact of GC-MS-based steroid profiling on our understanding of the biochemical role of steroids and their metabolic enzymes in hormone-dependent diseases, such as congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), cortisol-mediated hypertension, apparent mineralocorticoid excess (AME), male-pattern baldness, and breast and thyroid cancers. Steroid profiling is a comprehensive analytical technique that can be applied whenever the highest specificity is required and may be a reasonable initial diagnostic approach.

Quantitative Phosphoproteomics of the Human Neural Stem Cell Differentiation into Oligodendrocyte by Mass Spectrometry

Cho, Kun,Kim, Jin Young,Kim, Eunmin,Park, Gun Wook,Kang, Tae Wook,Yoon, Jung Hae,Kim, Seung U.,Byun, Kyunghee,Lee, Bonghee,Yoo, Jong Shin Korean Society for Mass Spectrometry 2012 Mass spectrometry letters Vol.3 No.4

Cellular processes such as proliferation, differentiation, and adaptation to environmental changes are regulated by protein phosphorylation. In order to enhance the understanding of molecular dynamics for biological process in detail, it is necessary to develop sensitive and comprehensive analytical methods for the determination of protein phosphorylation. Neural stem cells hold great promise for neural repair following an injury or disease. In this study, we made differentiated oligodendrocytes from human neural stem cells using over-expression of olig2 gene. We confirmed using quantitative phosphoproteome analysis approach that combines stable isotope labeling by amino acids in cell culture (SILAC) and $TiO_2$ micro-column for phosphopeptide enrichment with $MS^2$ and $MS^3$ mass spectrometry. We detected 275 phosphopeptides which were modulated at least 2-fold between human neural stem cells and oligodendrocytes. Among them, 23 phosphoproteins were up-regulated in oligodendrocytes and 79 phosphoproteins were up-regulated in F3 cells.

Validation and Applications of Gas Chromatography-Combustion/isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometric Method to Control Misuse of Androgens in Human

Lee, Kang-Mi,Kim, Ho-Jun,Jeong, Eun-Sook,Yoo, Hye-Hyun,Kwon, Oh-Seung,Jin, Chang-Bae,Kim, Dong-Hyun,Lee, Jae-Ick Korean Society for Mass Spectrometry 2011 Mass spectrometry letters Vol.2 No.2

The misuse of anabolic androgenic steroids is of particular concern in sports and society. Thus, it is of great importance to discriminate endogenous steroids such as testosterone or testosterone prohormones from their chemically identical synthetic copies. In this study, gas chromatography-combustion/isotope ratio mass spectrometric (GC-C/IRMS) method has been developed and validated for discriminating the origin of anabolic androgenic steroids. The method involves the solid-phase extraction, enzymatic hydrolysis with ${\beta}$-glucuronidase, HPLC-fractionation for the cleanup and analysis by GC-C/IRMS. The difference(${\Delta}^{13}C$) of urinary ${\delta}^{13}C$ values between synthetic analogues and endogenous reference compounds (ERC) by GC-C/IRMS was used to elucidate the origin of steroids, and intra- and inter-day precision, specificity and isotope fractionation were evaluated. The present GC-C/IRMS method combined with HPLC cleanup was accurate and reproducible enough to be successfully applied to the test of urine sample from suspected anabolic steroid abusers.

Simple and Robust Measurement of Blood Plasma Lysophospholipids Using Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry

Ji, Dong Yoon,Lee, Chang-Wan,Park, Se Hee,Lee, Eun Jig,Lee, Do Yup Korean Society for Mass Spectrometry 2017 Mass spectrometry letters Vol.8 No.4

Single analytical procedure including extraction, liquid chromatography, and mass spectrometric analysis was evaluated for the simultaneous measurement of lysophospholipids (LPLs). LPLs, particularly, lysophosphatidic acids (LPA) and sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) are lipid messengers ubiquitously found in various biological matrix. The molecular species mediate important physiological roles in association with many diseases (e.g. cancer, inflammation, and neurodegenerative disease), which emphasize the significance of the simple and reliable analytical method for biomarker discovery and molecular mechanistic understanding. Thus, we developed analytical method mainly focusing on, but not limited by those lipid species S1P and LPA using reverse phase liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (RPLC-ESI-MS-MS). Extraction method was modified based on Folch method with optimally minimal level of ionization additive (ammonium formate 10 mM and formic acid). Reverse-phase liquid-chromatography was applied for chromatographical separation in combination with negative ionization mode electrospray-coupled Orbitrap mass spectrometry. The method validation was performed on human blood plasma in a non-targeted lipid profiling manner with full-scan MS mode and data-dependent MS/MS. The proposed method presented good inter-assay precision for primary targets, S1P and LPA. Subsequent analysis of other types of LPLs identified a broad range of lysophosphatidylcholines (LPCs) and lysophosphatidyl-ethanolamines (LPEs).

Fungal Secretome for Biorefinery: Recent Advances in Proteomic Technology

Adav, Sunil S.,Sze, Siu Kwan Korean Society for Mass Spectrometry 2013 Mass spectrometry letters Vol.4 No.1

Fungal biotechnology has been well established in food and healthcare sector, and now being explored for lignocellulosic biorefinery due to their great potential to produce a wide array of extracellular enzymes for nutrient recycling. Due to global warming, environmental pollution, green house gases emission and depleting fossil fuel, fungal enzymes for lignocellulosic biomass refinery become a major focus for utilizing renewal bioresources. Proteomic technologies tender better biological understanding and exposition of cellular mechanism of cell or microbes under particular physiological condition and are very useful in characterizing fungal secretome. Hence, in addition to traditional colorimetric enzyme assay, mass-spectrometry-based quantification methods for profiling lignocellulolytic enzymes have gained increasing popularity over the past five years. Majority of these methods include two dimensional gel electrophoresis coupled to mass spectrometry, differential stable isotope labeling and label free quantitation. Therefore, in this review, we reviewed more commonly used different proteomic techniques for profiling fungal secretome with a major focus on two dimensional gel electrophoresis, liquid chromatography-based quantitative mass spectrometry for global protein identification and quantification. We also discussed weaknesses and strengths of these methodologies for comprehensive identification and quantification of extracellular proteome.

Multi-class Analysis of Exposure Chemicals in Deciduous Teeth by Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry: Preliminary Studies on Sample Preparation Methods

Lee, Yujin,Seo, Eunji,Park, Jun Young,Bae, Kwang-Hak,Lee, Jaeick,Cha, Sangwon Korean Society for Mass Spectrometry 2018 Mass spectrometry letters Vol.9 No.4

Since accumulation of chemicals in deciduous teeth can occur from the second trimester of fetal development to shedding, a deciduous tooth has been considered as an attractive biomatrix for estimating individual chemical exposures recently. Therefore, detection of organic chemicals from teeth has received an increasing attention in exposomics research. Most previous studies on organic chemical analysis of teeth not only focused on a few targeted chemicals but also ignored potential contaminants from an enamel surface or a dental pulp. Recently, our group started developing a multi-class organic analysis method for deciduous teeth and tried to find a proper incubation condition of tooth materials. Our results showed that incubation with methanolic HCl provided the best performance among tested.

Determination of the Concentration and Isotope Ratio of Uranium in Soil and Water by Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometry

Park, Jong-Ho,Park, Sujin,Song, Kyuseok Korean Society for Mass Spectrometry 2014 Mass spectrometry letters Vol.5 No.1

Thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS) was used to determine the concentration and isotope ratio of uranium contained in samples of soil and groundwater collected from Korea. Quantification of uranium in ground water samples was performed by isotope dilution mass spectrometry. A series of chemical treatment processes, including chemical separation using extraction chromatography, was applied to the soil samples to extract the uranium. No treatments other than filtration were applied to the groundwater samples. Isotopic analyses by TIMS showed that the isotope ratios of uranium in both the soil and water samples were indistinguishable from those of naturally abundant uranium. The concentration of uranium in the groundwater samples was within the U.S. acceptable standards for drinking water. These results demonstrate the utility of TIMS for monitoring uranium in environmental samples with high analytical reliability.