Dan Bylund

Chromatographic alignment by warping and dynamic programming as a pre-processing tool for PARAFAC modelling of liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry data.

Solutes analysed with LC-MS are characterised by their retention times and mass spectra, and quantified by the intensities measured. This highly selective information can be extracted by multiway modelling. However, for full use and interpretability it is necessary that the assumptions made for the model are valid. For PARAFAC modelling, the assumption is a trilinear data structure. With LC-MS, several factors, e.g. non-linear detector response and ionisation suppression may introduce deviations from trilinearity. The single largest problem, however, is the retention time shifts not related to the true sample variations. In this paper, a time warping algorithm for alignment of LC-MS data in the chromatographic direction has been examined. Several refinements have been implemented and the features are demonstrated for both simulated and real data. With moderate time shifts present in the data, pre-processing with this algorithm yields approximately trilinear data for which reasonable models can be made.

Matched filtering with background suppression for improved quality of base peak chromatograms and mass spectra in liquid chromatography - mass spectrometry

A time domain filter that combines the properties of matched filtering and two-fold differentiation is presented. The filter coefficients are given by the second derivative of a Gaussian model peak, controlled by the setting of two parameters related to the chromatographic system. The fundamental characteristics of the filter were derived, and its applicability demonstrated for real liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC–MS) data. The filter is primarily intended as a fast pre-processing step, for a mass chromatogram with 320 scans over 700 mass channels the computation time was 0.6 s on a standard PC. Base peak chromatograms with improved peak detection capability and mass spectra useful for compound identification were obtained with filtered data. The most significant effect of the described filter is background reduction due to the differentiation, which in combination with the matched filter can be performed with maintained or even improved signal-to-noise ratio.

Analysis of phosphatidylcholine and sphingomyelin molecular species from brain extracts using capillary liquid chromatography electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

One feature of complex lipids is that many subtypes of these molecules exist as a diverse mixture in a biological sample. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of these closely related molecules require sensitive and specific analytical methods to detect intact phospholipids (PL) and sphingomyelin (SM) species and to differentiate between them. Conventional analytical methods require laborious procedures including separation by column, argentation thin-layer chromatography or liquid chromatography (LC) after pre- or post-column derivatization. In the present work, a method based on reversed phase capillary LC coupled on-line to electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC/ESI/MS) has been developed to gather tools for lipidomic studies, i.e. the profiling of complex mixtures of lipids in small amounts of various cells and tissues. The LC/MS system used consisted of an LC pump in an isocratic elution, a reversed phase capillary column and a single quadrupole mass spectrometer operated in the positive ion mode. A successful separation of phosphatidylcholine (PC) and SM molecular species was obtained with a minimum detectable quantity (MDQ) in the low fmol range injected on column. The method was applied to human brain extracts. Furthermore, the extraction efficiencies of the traditional Folch method and pressurized fluid extraction (PFE) were compared using the human brain. It was found that the intensity of the PC and SM molecular species extracted by PFE is two times that of Folch.

Miniaturized on-line proteolysis–capillary liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry for peptide mapping of lactate dehydrogenase

In this study, methodology was developed for on-line and miniaturized enzymatic digestion with liquid chromatographic (LC) separation and mass spectrometric (MS) detection. A packed capillary LC-MS system was combined with on-line trypsin cleavage of a model protein, lactate dehydrogenase, to provide an efficient system for peptide mapping. The protein was injected onto an enzymatic capillary reactor and the resulting peptides were efficiently trapped on a capillary trapping column. Different trapping columns were evaluated to achieve a high binding capacity for the peptides generated in the enzyme reactor. The peptides were further eluted from the pre-column and separated on an analytical capillary column by a buffer more suitable for the following an electrospray ionisation (ESI) MS process. An important aspect of the on-line approach was the desalting of peptides performed in the trapping column to avoid detrimental signal suppression in the ESI process. The developed on-line system was finally compared to a classical digestion in solution, with reference to peptide sequence coverage and sensitivity. It was shown that the on-line system gave more than 100% higher peptide sequence coverage than traditional digestion methods.

Siderophore production by Pseudomonas stutzeri under aerobic and anaerobic conditions

ABSTRACT The siderophore production of the facultative anaerobe Pseudomonas stutzeri, strain CCUG 36651, grown under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions, was investigated by liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry. The bacterial strain has been isolated at a 626-m depth at the Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory, where experiments concerning the geological disposal of nuclear waste are performed. In bacterial culture extracts, the iron in the siderophore complexes was replaced by gallium to facilitate siderophore identification by mass spectrometry. P. stutzeri was shown to produce ferrioxamine E (nocardamine) as the main siderophore together with ferrioxamine G and two cyclic ferrioxamines having molecular masses 14 and 28 atomic mass units lower than that of ferrioxamine E, suggested to be ferrioxamine D2 and ferrioxamine X1, respectively. In contrast, no siderophores were observed from anaerobically grown P. stutzeri. None of the siderophores produced by aerobically grown P. stutzeri were found in anaerobic natural water samples from the Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory.

Optimisation of chromatographic separations by use of a chromatographic response function, empirical modelling and multivariate analysis

SummaryThe chiral separation of the drug substance R,S-oxybutynin chloride on a reversed phase HPLC system has been optimised by use of empirical modelling and multivariate analysis. The separation was characterised by a new chromatographic response function developed to modulate both quality of separation and retention time. The study includes a comparison between three different multivariate techniques (multi-layer feed-for-ward neural networks, multiple linear regression and partial least squares regression) of their capabilities to model the new chromatographic response function and predict its value for new experiments. It was indicated that the most accurate models were achieved with neural networks, although partial least squares regression could also be used to solve the problem since it gives the major directions for the optimal settings of the variables.

Peak purity assessment in liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry

Fixed-size moving window evolving factor analysis and base peak chromatograms have been used for peak purity detection in data generated with LC-MS. The two methods were evaluated with both real and simulated data and were found to be fast and complementary to each other. When a possibly impure peak is detected, it is suggested that further information can be obtained from local principal component analysis modelling and comparative mass chromatogram plots.

Titanium ions form particles that activate and execute interleukin-1β release from lipopolysaccharide-primed macrophages.

Background and Objective Peri‐implantitis is a destructive inflammatory process characterized by destruction of the implant‐supporting bone. Inflammasomes are large intracellular multiprotein complexes that play a central role in innate immunity by activating the release of proinflammatory cytokines. Although inflammasome activation has previously been linked to periodontal inflammation, there is still no information on a potential association with peri‐implantitis. The aim of this study was to examine cytotoxic and proinflammatory effects, including inflammasome activation, of metals used in dental implants, in an in vitro model, as well as from clinical tissue samples. Material and methods Human macrophages were exposed to different metals [titanium (Ti), cobalt, chromium and molybdenum] in a cell‐culture assay. Cytotoxicity was determined using the neutral red uptake assay. Cytokine secretion was quantified using an ELISA, and the expression of genes of various inflammasome components was analysed using quantitative PCR. In addition, the concentrations of interleukin‐1β (IL‐1β) and Ti in mucosal tissue samples taken in the vicinity of dental implants were determined using ELISA and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, respectively. Results Ti ions in physiological solutions stimulated inflammasome activation in human macrophages and consequently IL‐1β release. This effect was further enhanced by macrophages that have been exposed to lipopolysaccharides. The proinflammatory activation caused by Ti ions disappeared after filtration (0.22 μm), which indicates an effect of particles. Ti ions alone did not stimulate transcription of the inflammasome components. The Ti levels of tissue samples obtained in the vicinity of Ti implants were sufficiently high (≥ 40 μm) to stimulate secretion of IL‐1β from human macrophages in vitro. Conclusion Ti ions form particles that act as secondary stimuli for a proinflammatory reaction.

An automatic peak finding method for LC‐MS data using Gaussian second derivative filtering

A highly automated procedure for localising and characterising peaks in the chromatographic time domain of LC-MS data has been developed. The work was initiated by an identified need to facilitate the detection and tracking of chromatographic peaks during method development for the analysis of impurities in pharmaceutical products. The algorithm is mainly based on a digital filter for which the settings are automatically adapted to the data set under study. The procedure was evaluated for synthetic data sets with various S/N levels, peak widths and baseline properties. It was found that even for the worst case tested with S/N=10 and a high variability in the baseline, 94% of the simulated analytical peaks could be detected without producing any false-positive identifications. Furthermore, the number of correctly estimated peak heights and peak widths falling within a 10% error of the true values were 94 and 91%, respectively. For experimental data sets, peak height, and width estimations were more difficult, but the processed reconstructions showed an excellent agreement with the analytical signals of the raw data, and also a clearly improved visualisation in total ion- and base-peak chromatograms.

Metal Ion Coordination, Conditional Stability Constants, and Solution Behavior of Chelating Surfactant Metal Complexes

Coordination complexes of some divalent metal ions with the DTPA (diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid)-based chelating surfactant 2-dodecyldiethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (4-C12-DTPA) have been examined in terms of chelation and solution behavior. The headgroup of 4-C12-DTPA contains eight donor atoms that can participate in the coordination of a metal ion. Conditional stability constants for five transition metal complexes with 4-C12-DTPA were determined by competition measurements between 4-C12-DTPA and DTPA, using electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). Small differences in the relative strength between the coordination complexes of DTPA and 4-C12-DTPA indicated that the hydrocarbon tail only affected the chelating ability of the headgroup to a limited extent. The coordination of Cu(2+) ions was investigated in particular, using UV-visible spectroscopy. By constructing Jobs plots, it was found that 4-C12-DTPA could coordinate up to two Cu(2+) ions. Surface tension measurements and NMR diffusometry showed that the coordination of metal ions affected the solution behavior of 4-C12-DTPA, but there were no specific trends between the studied divalent metal complexes. Generally, the effects of the metal ion coordination could be linked to the neutralization of the headgroup charge of 4-C12-DTPA, and the resulting reduced electrostatic repulsions between adjacent surfactants in micelles and monolayers. The pH vs concentration plots, on the other hand, showed a distinct difference between 4-C12-DTPA complexes of the alkaline earth metals and the transition metals. This was explained by the difference in coordination between the two groups of metal ions, as predicted by the hard and soft acid and base (HSAB) theory.